Disney Genie and Genie+ at Walt Disney World

JAB

Well-Known Member
Quick question for you lovely peeps - how alike is Genie+ is to FP+ flexibility wise? It used to be that if I got a FP for a ride at a later time, I could go back in and keep refreshing until I got a sooner/better time. Is this also the case with Genie+ (both individual LL and regular LL), or are you stuck with the initial time you get?

Also, you can only use LL 1 per ride per day, correct?

Thanks!
You can change your time for Genie+, but it's not quite the same as FP+, and it's a bit riskier.

FP+ would let you simply modify an existing reservation, and would only change your existing reservation once you successfully booked the new timeslot. Unlike FP+, though, G+, does not have a "modify" option; instead, you have to cancel your existing LL reservation first and then book the new one, so there is the risk that the "better" timeslot you saw could already be gone by the time you cancel your existing timeslot and go back to book the new timeslot, meaning you've now lost your original timeslot, even though you didn't get the new one.

Individual Lightning Lane purchases (which are not part of Genie+ and can be purchased regardless of whether you purchase G+), however, cannot be changed or cancelled.

And yes; Lightning Lane access is allowed only once per ride per day.
 

_mickey_

Active Member
You can change your time for Genie+, but it's not quite the same as FP+, and it's a bit riskier.

FP+ would let you simply modify an existing reservation, and would only change your existing reservation once you successfully booked the new timeslot. Unlike FP+, though, G+, does not have a "modify" option; instead, you have to cancel your existing LL reservation first and then book the new one, so there is the risk that the "better" timeslot you saw could already be gone by the time you cancel your existing timeslot and go back to book the new timeslot, meaning you've now lost your original timeslot, even though you didn't get the new one.

Individual Lightning Lane purchases (which are not part of Genie+ and can be purchased regardless of whether you purchase G+), however, cannot be changed or cancelled.

And yes; Lightning Lane access is allowed only once per ride per day.

Ahh man, considering you have to pay for what was "FP+", the least they could have done was kept the modify feature. Bummer. Thanks for answering my questions!
 

nickys

Premium Member
I still haven’t been able to get a clear answer to this question.

7am: Book 1pm LL for Ride A
11am: Book 12:30pm LL for Ride B
12:30pm: Redeem LL for Ride B

Can I now book another LL? And then could I book an additional one when I redeem my LL for Ride A, even though less than 2 hours has passed?

If the answer to those questions is yes, it would mean that once you’ve stacked X LLs, you would effectively be able to book X at a time for the rest of the day.
I think the answers are yes and yes. Although you have very precise return times. Technically at 11am, your return time is 2 hrs away. So it depends if it’s 2 hrs or more than 2 hrs.

You can book a new LL when you tap in for a ride (remembering some rides require you tap n twice, so you might need to wait until you’re at boarding).

And if your return time is more than 2 hours away you can book another one 2 hours after you booked your last one.
 

SteveAZee

Well-Known Member
You can change your time for Genie+, but it's not quite the same as FP+, and it's a bit riskier.

FP+ would let you simply modify an existing reservation, and would only change your existing reservation once you successfully booked the new timeslot. Unlike FP+, though, G+, does not have a "modify" option; instead, you have to cancel your existing LL reservation first and then book the new one, so there is the risk that the "better" timeslot you saw could already be gone by the time you cancel your existing timeslot and go back to book the new timeslot, meaning you've now lost your original timeslot, even though you didn't get the new one.

Individual Lightning Lane purchases (which are not part of Genie+ and can be purchased regardless of whether you purchase G+), however, cannot be changed or cancelled.

And yes; Lightning Lane access is allowed only once per ride per day.
Any possible justification for not allowing 'modify' in the new system? It seems very... user surly.
 

Jeff4272

Well-Known Member
And you do not think this is slightly misleading for those who will be in WDW on Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years? You are basing this on a slow day and declaring Genie + a waste of money? Talk to me when Small World is 65 minutes on Christmas week. And Jungle Cruise is 85 minutes and SDMT is 100 minute wait.

We mostly all agree Genie + is not as good as FP+ but to say it's useless based in a slow day is a pretty bold statement. Let's see how it is on the pending holidays.
Yeah i do.......Let me know how it goes when you go to book your second Genie+ 2 hours after park opening and there's nothing available......................ill be looking for your response
 

Waters Back Side

Well-Known Member
Yeah i do.......Let me know how it goes when you go to book your second Genie+ 2 hours after park opening and there's nothing available......................ill be looking for your response

I'm willing to wager on my HS day I get Slinky 1st and Smugglers 2nd. TSM and TOT is possible as well. If you know what your doing it works out. Its not about quantity of LLs its quality. Every park I will pick the top 2 highest demand rides 1 and 2. HS Slinky between 7 and 8 am and then at 11 Smugglers for what I'm sure will be much later in the day. Test Track 1st at Epcot and then Soarin which is yet to sell out. I will probably use Genie + for Spaceship Earth later in the day also and wait in line for LWTL. Those are the 4 I care about in terms of Genie + tier rides. If I have to wait in line for 2 or 3 rides I want to go on just to be able to get the top 2 for me that'll be a success.

Some people are cauugt up on thinking the way to get their moneys worth is to use Genie + for as many rides as possible. I am always going to book the teo highest demands 1 and 2. And then the other rides you wait in between or select after redeeming the top 2.

The only park showing issues consistently with ride availability is Hollywood. The other 3 have had all rides available later into the day. So yeah, its safe to assume HS holiday week quickly have rides unavailable but I'm always going 1/2 the two top rides on Genie no matter what time they are.
 
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G00fyDad

Well-Known Member
Yeah i do.......Let me know how it goes when you go to book your second Genie+ 2 hours after park opening and there's nothing available......................ill be looking for your response

I also think that this Genie$ is going to implode on a busy day. There is going to be a very long line of PO'd guests at GR demanding answers when the whole thing either locks up and dies or when it shows absolutely no availability mere moments after park opening due to the sheer number of people attending the park.
 

Waters Back Side

Well-Known Member
I also think that this Genie$ is going to implode on a busy day. There is going to be a very long line of PO'd guests at GR demanding answers when the whole thing either locks up and dies or when it shows absolutely no availability mere moments after park opening due to the sheer number of people attending the park.

The only park that has had attractions sell out is HS. So I expect that trend continues but even quicker at holiday time. I'm thankful I'll be at each park twice that week, but I do believe regardless that picking your 1st two rides 1 and 2 in demand is the best option. I'm sure many others will have the same strategy so we will see.
 
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I'm willing to wager on my HS day I get Slinky 1st and Smugglers 2nd. TSM and TOT is possible as well. If you know what your doing it works out. Its not about quantity of LLs its quality. Every park I will pick the top 2 highest demand rides 1 and 2. HS Slinky between 7 and 8 am and then at 11 Smugglers for what I'm sure will be much later in the day. Test Track 1st at Epcot and then Soarin which is yet to sell out. I will probably use Genie + for Spaceship Earth later in the day also and wait in line for LWTL. Those are the 4 I care about in terms of Genie + tier rides. If I have to wait in line for 2 or 3 rides I want to go on just to be able to get the top 2 for me that'll be a success.

Some people are cauugt up on thinking the way to get their moneys worth is to use Genie + for as many rides as possible. I am always going to book the teo highest demands 1 and 2. And then the other rides you wait in between or select after redeeming the top 2.

The only park showing issues consistently with ride availability is Hollywood. The other 3 have had all rides available later into the day. So yeah, its safe to assume HS holiday week quickly have rides unavailable but I'm always going 1/2 the two top rides on Genie no matter what time they are.
If you are a WDW vet and know what you want, the technique of quality over quantity is definitely the way to go. But, if you are a first timer, or a once every 10 years kind of a group, then the quantity over quality may be the way to go.

And if you want both quantity and quality? Disney has your solution: stay longer in their hotels, do a quantity day and then do another day as a quality day, and then do a third day at that park to re-ride everything you thought was just great the first time around. Buy G+ all of those days. Pay to park every day while you're at it, pay out the nose for food and drink, etc.
 

Waters Back Side

Well-Known Member
If you are a WDW vet and know what you want, the technique of quality over quantity is definitely the way to go. But, if you are a first timer, or a once every 10 years kind of a group, then the quantity over quality may be the way to go.

And if you want both quantity and quality? Disney has your solution: stay longer in their hotels, do a quantity day and then do another day as a quality day, and then do a third day at that park to re-ride everything you thought was just great the first time around. Buy G+ all of those days. Pay to park every day while you're at it, pay out the nose for food and drink, etc.

Yes I agree. I will 100 times out of 100 times pick Skinky first at HS. At 7am if SDD is next available for 4pm I will not even think twice. The time is irrelevant. I will book it. At 11am I walk into the park and will pick Smugglers. At that point it will be next available much later in the day. Say 7pm for example. Now I am in Hollywood Studios with LL rides SDD and Smugglers booked for 4pm and 7pm. I have no problem at all finding things to occopy my time until 1pm when I can grab my next LL.at 1pm. Those 2 hours I can do standby, I can shop, eat, catch shows etc. 1pm I'm pretty confident one of ToT, RNRC or Toy Story Mania will still have availability. I'm not bringing Rise or MMRR into the equation because that's completely separate.

Same with Epcot. Being it opens at 11am anyway and we always arrive between 10 and 11 I'll make that my first choice and have it by latest noon. Now I can grab another as soon as I redeem it and Soarin will be my 2nd option.

Magic will be TBD there will be a lot more availability.
 
Disney re-designed and transformed FP+/Maxpass into G+ to implement what THEY consider to be features:
  • no re-rides
  • increase the previous Maxpass time out from 90 mins to 120 minutes (so people get less rides in a day overall)
  • and the REALLY new, popular rides are in their own pay per ride tier
These are positives as far as Disney is concerned, because what Disney is concerned about is maximizing revue.

So first they changed the rules to somewhat cripple the line skip system (no re-rides, 120 minutes between requests vs 90 minutes) because they know they don't have the capacity, so they both charge for line skipping and try to spread out the line skipping.

And then for the VERY popular new rides they put them in their own pay tier and charge per ride. This improves their bottom line and improves the availability of the majority of their rides (G+ rides), while adding even more revenue for the really popular rides that are in their own pay per ride tier. They don't care if a lot of people aren't paying for Space Mountain ILL - some are, and any that do are an added revenue stream that did not exist before.

At the same time, they implement a free Genie service that directs the clueless visitors that don't know what they want to see or do to unpopular attractions and rides, or it even suggests that they do things like build their own lightsaber or their own droid for gigantic amounts of cash. If used as directed, this more evenly distributes each park's crowd and generates extra revenue.

Maximizing revenue is, far and away, the #1 Disney Parks goal at this point in time. Not customer service, not customer experience. Definitely and far above everything, REVENUE.
 
Yes I agree. I will 100 times out of 100 times pick Skinky first at HS. At 7am if SDD is next available for 4pm I will not even think twice. The time is irrelevant. I will book it. At 11am I walk into the park and will pick Smugglers. At that point it will be next available much later in the day. Say 7pm for example. Now I am in Hollywood Studios with LL rides SDD and Smugglers booked for 4pm and 7pm. I have no problem at all finding things to occopy my time until 1pm when I can grab my next LL.at 1pm. Those 2 hours I can do standby, I can shop, eat, catch shows etc. 1pm I'm pretty confident one of ToT, RNRC or Toy Story Mania will still have availability. I'm not bringing Rise or MMRR into the equation because that's completely separate.

Same with Epcot. Being it opens at 11am anyway and we always arrive between 10 and 11 I'll make that my first choice and have it by latest noon. Now I can grab another as soon as I redeem it and Soarin will be my 2nd option.

Magic will be TBD there will be a lot more availability.
Totally agree from our perspective...we are vets who last visited in 2018 and have avoided HS since 2013 waiting for the new lands to complete. So my priorities in HS are Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Land rides for our next (and possibly last) trip. Will take SDD and Smuggler's for G+ well over any others.
 

Disney Glimpses

Well-Known Member
Disney re-designed and transformed FP+/Maxpass into G+ to implement what THEY consider to be features:
  • no re-rides
  • increase the previous Maxpass time out from 90 mins to 120 minutes (so people get less rides in a day overall)
  • and the REALLY new, popular rides are in their own pay per ride tier
These are designed to decrease demand even further than the $15 price point. The idea is to have a skip the line option for those who it is most important to (willing to pay) without making standby unbearable. Theoretically, if they removed these limitations, they may make more money.
 

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