KCheatle
Well-Known Member
Hi!! We just went in April so hopefully I can guide you a little bit.
As for genie+, you're correct that there is a 2-hour window. But I find it difficult to believe you will actually need that. Genie+ does not fill up like it does in WDW. We would book at Genie+, scan our bands for that ride, and immediately book another one for the same time period for the next ride. We just hopped from ride to ride on it. We also noticed, again unlike WDW, was most people don't use Genie+ there. They're predominately locals, so I think they don't feel they need it? That's why you can book it for redemption so soon. And you will also see there is virtually little to no wait in the Genie+ line there. In WDW, we'll still wait 15-20 minutes with Genie+. There, it's a walk on. A lot more like it is at Universal. The biggest thing we noticed is you cannot use Genie+ until you enter the park. So, unlike WDW where you can stack all day even if you're not there yet, you cannot do that at the Disneyland resort parks. Little hack on that is that you can take the monorail from Downtown Disney into Tomorrowland. When you scan you band for that, you are considered "in the park," and you can start using Genie+.
Another hack is don't use Genie+ in the morning if you want to ride the ride again that night. The parks are pretty dead until about 2-3 pm when locals start showing up. Then it becomes nuts. Around that afternoon time, start watching the Genie+ return times to make sure you don't miss them if you want to use it at night. Same thing for mobile ordering food. If you want to mobile order breakfast or lunch, you probably don't need to pay much attention to it. However, if you want to mobile order during dinner, place that order early in the day so the locals don't snatch up all the time slots.
As for the modification, I'm not sure we ever tried to modify?? I don't remember having issues one way or another with that.
As for the airport, we also flew into LAX, but we rented a car. I did see several shuttles drive by was we waited for our bus to the rental car company that had service down to Disneyland? So, I would look into that. It might be cheaper and more convenient?
I can't imagine GC wouldn't let you drop off your luggage once your check in. There is someone at the check in desk 24/7, so if you get there early enough, it shouldn't be a problem to get early entry. You could call the front desk though just to make sure?
A couple little notes on GC in case you don't already know. First, there is an excellent balcony area where you can see World of Color. It's on the DVC side of the hotel. Second, there is a separate entrance/exit over in that area as well. Most people know about the entrance to California Adventure by the GC pool. But, there is another one that is supposed to be for Pixar hotel people, but they let anyone with a resort key use it (right now anyway). It puts you in Pixar Pier. If you are staying for World of Color, it's an easier way to get back into the hotel than navigating all the way back through the park. Third, in the little quick service restaurant by the pool, they have a hotdog of the month. It's pretty great if you're a hotdog person ;-)
