The Genie Usage, Tips and Strategy ONLY Thread

[chiisai]

Thank you. Yes, I was asking if there have been notes of "late drops" for MK at Park Open for ILL.
Thank you.

I’m at MK tonight and got SDMT around 10:15am, for 5:55pm. I got it first for 6:45pm, lost it, then refreshed for another minute and got it back at 5:55 and it went through.

 

[js]

I’m at MK tonight and got SDMT around 10:15am, for 5:55pm. I got it first for 6:45pm, lost it, then refreshed for another minute and got it back at 5:55 and it went through.

Thank you. I'm guessing if we were there all day, and I'm good at the refreshing, I would get something, but we are leaving about 1 or 2 pm so not getting hopes up and will have to break this to my bff this weekend LOL
Thanks.

 

[MinnierellaMama]

Thank you. I'm guessing if we were there all day, and I'm good at the refreshing, I would get something, but we are leaving about 1 or 2 pm so not getting hopes up and will have to break this to my bff this weekend LOL
Thanks.

It’s still worth a shot! This past week I was able to refresh around noon for a 2:15 Remy ILL

 

[martin33]

You don't have to wait until you are in the park to book LL, so you should start trying in the morning for rides with afternoon return times (Frozen, Test Track) and then you'll have some already in place before you ever even get there.

thanks for this - much appreciated

 

[godfather927]

A tip for G+LL #2 for the "2 hours after park opens" slot. I experienced this at DHS on March 25.

For LL#1 I got MFSR at 7AM. No issue there. It was for a 12:15-1:15PM window. So the two hour rule applied for LL#2.

DHS officially opened at 8:30AM. So LL#2 opened at 10:30AM for me and 10,000+ other people! We were sitting in the Indy Stunt show at 10:30AM. I really wanted to try and snag ToT for LL#2.

So, right before 10:30 I was ready using all the tips from here. And I tried for ToT but it was immediately sold out for the day as often seen on Thrill Data. So I could not get ToT. But before committing to another LL#2 I hesitated to see if a ToT LL would come back. It didn't. Eventually I booked LL#2 for RnR (6:15-7:15PM window) at 10:31 or 10:32.

Here is the thing. That now set my time for the LL#3. It was 2 hours after LL#2. Since I hesitated that 1-2 minutes at 10:30 that put my LL#3 slot at 12:31-12:32. And everyone else gobbled up the remaining good LL's right at 12:30. I did not quite realize that at 12:30 - I was trying to get a LL#3 and MDE would not let me. It said I was not eligible. That changed at 12:31-12:32.

Obviously, if I could have gotten LL#2 for a window before 12:30PM I would not be subject to the 2 hour rule. Or even LL#1 before 10:30AM.

Moral of the story - especially for DHS. When getting LL#2 at the 2 hour rule, try and grab something ASAP. Hopefully you will get your first choice. But if you wait to see if something else pops up you will hurt any chances for a good LL#3.

Why did you wait until 10:30am? I thought the 2 hour rule window had a 5 min cushion, meaning you could book at 10:25am? Or am I confusing this with the 5 min early cushion on the LL return time?

 

[SLThomas318]

Why did you wait until 10:30am? I thought the 2 hour rule window had a 5 min cushion, meaning you could book at 10:25am? Or am I confusing this with the 5 min early cushion on the LL return time?

The 5 min cushion is for entering the ride line, not booking another genie+

 

[godfather927]

The 5 min cushion is for entering the ride line, not booking another genie+

Ah, thank you. Too many wrinkles to remember.

 

[SLThomas318]

Ah, thank you. Too many wrinkles to remember.

I agree… so much to keep track of! Not a fan!

 

[TacoCatGoatCheesePizza]

I've been micro-managing from KY my DD24 DHS day. It's been successful!

LL 7am: SDD 3:05 and RISE 4:25.

Rope Drop ToT, RnRC and MMRR. All completed by 9:00! I've trained my DD24 well!!

LL 10:30am: RnRC 2:40. Wants to ride again.

I hate, HATE that there is no way to modify times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At 7am, you take what you get and then see way earlier times. And, the time your reserve is not the time you get! Why????????????? I know it's a rhetorical question.

Mind sharing the order of rope drop rides to get this all accomplished in 30 minutes? Those were my picks for rope drop but not sure what order is most efficient during EE!

 

[wisblue]

Thanks for the reply. Was it possible to get Slinky the morning you went or were they all gone for the morning when you tried at 717 on that day? Seems like it is better to do the morning for tot and rnrc and then evenings for some other attractions so maybe we will do two mornings and two evenings at HS.

Our plan that day was to see if we could get an early time for Slinky and, if we couldn’t get something before noon, to get one for MFSR instead. Whichever of those we didn’t get we could get when we hopped to DHS on our Epcot day.

That morning I forgot to buy Genie+ before we got to the park and in the few seconds it took me to buy it the time for Slinky was after noon. I‘m not sure what time we would have gotten if I didn’t have to make those couple of extra clicks, but it was at 8:30 AM when I started the process. On a previous trip we were able to get 9:10 AM on a day with a 9 AM opening.

Instead of taking the later time for SDD we took something for MFSR.

 

[wisblue]

Mind sharing the order of rope drop rides to get this all accomplished in 30 minutes? Those were my picks for rope drop but not sure what order is most efficient during EE!

Not sure about the person you were asking but ETPE at DHS has been starting at 7:30 this week and has been at 8 AM for the rest of spring break. So, getting those 3 rides done before 9 AM would not require doing them in under 30 minutes.

We were able to do TOT, RNRC, and MMRR (in that order) in about 45 minutes by being near the front of the line at TOT when it opened. We did have about a 20 minute wait at MMRR because offsite guests were being let in before 8:30.

I would recommend that order because the line at TOT can build quickly with only one side of the ride operating.

 

[lynzi2004]

So the time changing after purchasing the $ILL finally got me today! I don’t know how many times I have purchased and not had issues and honestly assumed the people who were complaining just weren’t paying enough attention sorry guys! But this morning, FOP went from 8:30am (tip board time), to my personal selection of 10:10-11:10 (payment confirmation screen) to 12:35-1:35 (final confirmation). I get why everyone is so frustrated when this happens and Disney seriously needs to put a stop to it. Especially 10 min later when I go back and all the times are once again available, but now I can’t modify and am stuck with what they gave me

 

[ScarletFire]

Mind sharing the order of rope drop rides to get this all accomplished in 30 minutes? Those were my picks for rope drop but not sure what order is most efficient during EE!

Of course. Early entry began at 8am, I think, so it was actually longer than 30 minutes. ToT, RnRC, MMRR.

RnRC was down during EE RD. When DD24 exited ToT, the RnRC queue opened. She entered line and there was still a short wait for the ride to begin operating but that was a timesaver.

DD24 was a party of two and was called ahead of other riders at MMRR.

 

[redboat45]

I think the biggest thing I'm learning from this thread is to not even try for ILL until 7:17am.

 

[g-dad66]

So the time changing after purchasing the $ILL finally got me today! I don’t know how many times I have purchased and not had issues and honestly assumed the people who were complaining just weren’t paying enough attention sorry guys! But this morning, FOP went from 8:30am (tip board time), to my personal selection of 10:10-11:10 (payment confirmation screen) to 12:35-1:35 (final confirmation). I get why everyone is so frustrated when this happens and Disney seriously needs to put a stop to it. Especially 10 min later when I go back and all the times are once again available, but now I can’t modify and am stuck with what they gave me

Sorry this happened to you, but just for the record, I think there are at least 4 times that we see return times (actually 5).

1 - Time on tip board (in your case, 8:30)
2 - Times to choose from (I think these are typically on the hour: 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 etc)
3 - Subset of times to choose from (in your case, you probably picked 10:00 and then you chose 10:10 from subset of 10:10, 10:20, 10:30, etc.)
4 - Confirmation page (this is the page that's easy to be flying by so fast that one doesn't notice what time it says because it's tucked away in a paragraph)
5 - Payment page is next, and after payment you see final time (in your case (12:35)

I know from first-hand experience that the time can change (and usually will change) between 3 and 4.

The question I'm still not sure what the answer is: can the time change between 4 and 5? I know from my first-hand experience when I was finally watching carefully that it did not change from 4 to 5, but that may not always be the case.

If time never changes from 4 to 5, then backing out at step 4 allows one not to end up with a time you don't want.

 

[lynzi2004]

So I thought about this a bit after I posted and yes I do think it changed between 4 and 5…I’ve been trying to go back and think it through off and on all morning!

1. Tip board showed 8:15 or 8:30 or whatever.
2. Opened screen that allowed me to pick 10:10, 10:20, etc
3. Clicked on the 10:10 optuon
4. Payment confirmation actually gave me 10:35-11:35, which was close enough I didn’t really question it.
5. Final confirmation jumped down to the 12:35…

I really wish I would have screenshot #4 bc I remember thinking that’s not actually 10:10 but 20 min isn’t going to make a difference. But then when the 12:35 showed up I was wishing I would have screenshot the 10:35. Not a huge deal for us, but if those 2 hours would have messed with a plane departure or something, that would have been super aggravating. I may test it again on Saturday with rise and make sure I screen shot the time on the payment confirmation page.

I think the frustrating thing is, that we all are trying to figure out is it or isn’t it changing between the two but you are in such a hurry that you don’t think it’s going to matter until it does, and then you can’t go back! I do like the 7:17 drop better bc there’s more wiggle room for double checking everything!

 

[g-dad66]

Yeah, it's pretty risky to pause on #4 long enough to take a screenshot. Thanks for taking the time to mull over this. Hopefully our experiences with ILL may help some folks going forward.

EDITED TO ADD: The time changes are huge when you are doing this at 7am. The changes are minimal when you are doing it at 7:17 am. Unless things change (which they always could), 7:17 is the way to go for ILL.

 

[MinnierellaMama]

The time change thing got me a few times last week for ILL’s as well. I ended up backing out before hitting purchase and then just refreshing for another drop. Was able to snag a better time around that 7:07-7:15 timeframe each time. It was a gamble but I had two days at MK and at HS scheduled so I figured if it didn’t work, I’d just try the next day. Also keep an eye out for afternoon ILL’s if you are park hopping. We were at HS one morning and I refreshed around 1pm and snagged a 2:30 ILL for Remy that day. So if you for some reason don’t get one first thing, all hope isn’t lost!

 

[MainMom]

I think the biggest thing I'm learning from this thread is to not even try for ILL until 7:17am.

I’m leaning towards this as well for my trip. It makes me nervous, but I have a longish trip so I’ll take the risk.

 

[ejgonz2]

DD24 canceled before payment. Then, she got the hourly time selections. DJFann88 is correct. ScrappinginOntario is correct too.

Don't be too hasty with your LL selections. You can "refresh" for a better time.

With a group of 6 I’d be VERY nervous not taking whatever comes up for ROTR and other ILLa.