A Review of Standby Skipper and WHY you need it!

I have been using Standby Skipper since November of 2022, and let me tell you, I was a complete skeptic when I first heard about it. I was so skeptical that I only purchased it for one day and thought there was NO WAY this app was going to work. Even as it was working - I was doubting its ability. Here I am multiple trips later into 2023 and I have used it every trip since. It is a game changer. So let’s dive in.

What is Standby Skipper?

Standby Skipper is an app that books your priority Genie+ Lighting Lane Selections. Reducing the amount of time on your phone and the stress of having to remember to book your next Lightning Lane Attraction.

How does Standby Skipper Work?

Standby Skipper works with Genie+ by having you log into your My Disney Expereince app when you purchase the service and becomes “friends” with you. It will link all valid parties automatically. You can set the priorities inside of Standby Skipper and it will book Lightning Lanes for you while your hands are full with kids, if you decide to sleep in, or even on the plane.

What is the cost of Standby Skipper?

You can purchase Standby Skipper 30 days before your Walt Disney World Vacation by going to your app store and downloading it. Standby Skipper cost $25 for one day or $45 for 7 days , here is my advice, buy the $45 seven days because you will not regret using it after the first day. (Join my email list and get a $5 off coupon). You must also purchase Genie+ each day for Standby Skipper to work.

Like Genie+, you can have up to 12 people on your account.

Can Multiple Use Standby Skipper?

Yes you can. Log into Standby Skipper using the same email address and password to login on every persons phone who will do the booking (I recommend no more than 2). Your account should all be linked through my Disney experience. If you are traveling with another family and you have under 12 members total and you decide to split for the day you will have no problem booking. You can both still login and book your own priorities, because Standby Skipper will always ask you to select the members of the party that you're booking for for a specific ride and time.

Here are some deets:

Let’s start with the basics, Genie+ does not get you on ALL rides.

So DO NOT rely on it for that purpose. Genie+ is a tool to help maximize your day. It helps us get on 3 - 4 more rides a day & High Demand rides if you have no clue what you are doing. If you are having a bucket list ride day and plan to wear yourself out - we have gotten on 16 rides in one day (10 with Genie+, but it was a long day.)

It also keeps us out of long lines. We have a 30 minute cap on waiting in any lines and since Genie+ has returned we have not waited longer than 18 minutes.

On average my family books 6 - 10 rides with Genie+ Daily.

For Families - you still need a simple strategy for Standby Skipper, but the app will do all the work for you once you plug it in, and it's AMAZING!

Standby skipper does not book virtual queues or ILLs

How Does Standby Skipper work?

There are Five Booking Times

ASAP: will book your selection if the return time is within the next 2 hours.

Anytime: will book the first available time.

Morning: will book if the return time is between park opening and 12pm

Afternoon: will book if the return time is between 12 and 4pm.

Evening: will book if the return time is between 4pm and park close.

Depending on what your family goals are for the day, you will make a list of your priority rides and attractions. Based on that list it is important to look at the sell out order of those attractions. If Peter Pan tends to sell out early, you will want to make sure you put that into Standby Skipper earlier in the day to book the attraction.

Tips for using SS:

You can wing Standby Skipper, and it will still work for you. But you may find yourself running all over the park. If you want to maximize your day for your family and minimize STRESS, some strategy is still involved.

• At 7 am, only put one ride in ASAP

• Have a top priority list for rides and attractions for the family.

• Understand sellout order (Sellout order means the current order rides are selling out in the parks, i.e. usually Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure sells out early morning.)

• After the initial booking, place rides in sell-out orders into the correct boxes. (Batching)

• Have a plan before you get to the parks and remember proximity matters when reducing stress - look at a map when planning out your strategy.

• Have a list of filler rides and attractions why you wait for the next ride.

• Let Standby Skipper DO ITS WORK! - it's fantastic!

Let’s go through some strategy:

7 am Booking - ASAP Rides

There is two ways WE use ASAP.

First decide what type of Disney Day we are planning for our family.

Strategy changes if you plan to Rope Drop, arrive at Park Opening (or close to it), or arrive later and want to Stack Rides.

Well Hello Disney has 4 types of Disney days:

Ride Focused, Leisure Day, Bucket List and Show Focused

Then decide ride/attraction priority.

• EVERYONE should use ASAP for that first booking at 7 am. If you are up at midnight and purchased Genie+ go ahead and fill out your ASAP. If you at doing it all in the morning, be up by 6:30 to fill out your selection. Your ASAP selection should be the highest priority ride on the family list and also the HIGHEST demand ride at that specific park.

  • Remy's Ratatouille Adventure

  • Slinky Dog Dash

  • Kilimanjaro Safaris

  • Na'vi River

  • Peter Pan's Flight

  • Meet Ariel at Her Grotto

  • Enchanted Tales with Belle

This list is constantly changing, for the most up to day information visit Thill Data.

• The second way I use ASAP is if we want to be in Fantasyland ALL morning - I put ALL our selections for Fantasyland after booking my 7 am selection. You can also put anytime with this strategy and it will book the closest ride to your location. (This is my version of streaming rides - basically booking ride after ride.)

Batch Technique

Batching is a little more complex but it is the best method when using Standby Skipper. If you want to understand it join the WHD Family and take the webinar on Standby Skipper for a more detailed explanation. But let me attempt to explain it here.

I am going to use Magic Kingdom as an example.

Lets pretend we made the following priority list, and out goal is to not rope drop but make it to the park in the morning, take a midday break then stack rides for the evening.

• Peter Pan’s Flight (Morning sell-out)

• Meet Ariel at Her Grotto (Morning sell-out)

• Big Thunder Mountain (Early Evening sell-out)

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (ILL)

• TRON Lightcycle/Run (ILL)

• Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger (Late evening/ rarley)

• Haunted Mansion (Early Evening sell-out)

• Jungle Cruise (Morning sell-out)

I want to start my morning in Fantasyland, early afternoon in Frontierland/Liberty Square, then the evening in Tomorrowland.

Batch 1 - ASAP only - 7 am Peter Pan’s Flight

ILL - Seven Dwarfs - 9 am - 10 am, ILL Tron 7 pm - 8 pm (I have to book these, SS will not book ILLs)

After Peter Pan is booked, I will put in my next batch.

Batch 2 - Morning or ASAP - Meet Ariel at Her Grotto, Afternoon - Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, BTM

After SS has booked all of Batch 2 then, I enter Batch 3

Batch 3 - Evening - Buzzlight year 

Then I also have a list of filler activities. There are activities that I want to do in the park and rides that typically have short lines. At MK, we typically watch the Festival of the Fantasy Parade, Take pictures at the Castle, Watch Mickey’s Friendship Faire, and wait in line for Dumbo, Teacups, and The Barnstormer. 

Is this too good to be true?

The short answer is no. It really does work as long as you let it. There were times when I tapped into my next ride I did not see SS book the following ride. By the time I went into my app to try to book it myself, SS had already booked it. That’s when I realized I just needed to let it work.

Also, if you are like me and have your hands full with multiple little kids, sometimes setting the alarm every time I am supposed to book does not work. Then I end up missing the booking time. I do not have to worry now with SS because it is working for me. 

Things to remember:

Standby Skipper follows ALL the rules of Genie+.

If you are Park Hopping, it knows that it can only book the ride after 2 pm. 

If you are using Rider Switch, it will begin to book the next ride once everyone has tapped in.

You can choose who you want to book a ride for, so if someone does not want to ride, that is not an issue. 

You can still modify your Genie+ selection in your My Disney Experience App, and it will communicate to Standby Skipper when to book your next attraction. 

What if a ride is sold out? PUT IT IN ANYWAY! We have done this at Hollywood Studios - we rope-dropped Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, then at the end of the night, we decided we wanted to ride it again, but it was sold out. We put it in SS because it continuously searches for any openings, and it booked us on before the park closed! So AMAZING!

Do you want to understand Genie+ and Standby Skipper before you head to the parks? There are two options for you at Well Hello Magic Join the Magic Made Easy Course and Community and get access to the webinar channel that has 3 webinars on Genie+ and Standby Skipper or purchase the Genie+ Guide Book that walks you through EVERYTHING you need to know about Genie+ and give you access to the same 3 webinars!

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