Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[KGolf31]

Stayed 1/14 to 1/21 at Boardwalk Villas

Park days is as followed:

14: Epcot
15: MK
16: DHS
17: AK
18: MK
19: Epcot
20: DHS

Utilizing Genie+ with the refresh method worked flawlessly, I don't know if it was something with the crowds and availability still sticking around or what - but it proved to be a valuable tool booking LLs as we went throughout the day. I'll give 2 examples:

At Magic Kingdom, we reserved 7am for Space Mountain (primarily did this since we were rope dropping 7DMT and didn't want to rush over to Jungle Cruise, and also first day using it wasn't really sure of the timing I'd get for a return window at Jungle. The whole intent/mindset I had was to redeem ASAP and avoid "stacking" (unless it was evening and was back at the resort during a nap/break).

Anyways, as it occurred.

Early Entry: 7DMT
9:00am: Space Mountain
Exit of Space Mountain, booked Jungle Cruise 12:30pm. Refreshed until retrieving 10:00am timeslot
Walked on Buzz, Walked on Laugh Floor
10:00am Jungle Cruise
Booked 10:15 Pirates
10:15am Pirates
Booked 2pm Big Thunder. Refreshed until 11:00am timeslot became available
11:00am Big Thunder
Booked 4pm Haunted Mansion, Refreshed until 11:45 became available

etc etc throughout MK until 3pm when we went back to the resort and hopped over to Epcot.

For DHS the last day, was able to book ToT, Mickey's and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Rise (ILL+), Millennium Falcon, Toy Story Mania all before 12pm (walking into the park later at 9:30am to start the day). All done via refreshing and moving the time slots up. Even with the park posting 120min +, booking and refreshing seemed incredibly easy. Just something I would do when in line waiting for pre-shows and/or exiting the ride. I would say never spending more than 3-5 mins each time to acquire a timeslot that worked with us.


Even in the evenings, Stacking and refreshing/modifying times worked really well. One evening, we booked Splash, Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan for 4pm - 5:30pm and was able to ride all 3 rides easily after going to AK in the morning and using LL to walk on every ride. We were done with rides at 10am and used 2 hour rule to book evening events at MK

 

[peteykirch]

We just got back from a week at WDW and it was amazing.

Weather was spectacular, crowds were super manageable.

My only negative experiences were the following:

Trying to use mobile check out at the 2 AK stores that utilize this. Both stores there was no one manning the mobile checkout stand, and I had to go wait in the regular checkout line. I'm sorry, but it shouldn't be on the guest to go find someone to use a time saving feature because no one was manning the spot where this should be handled.

The other was after returning to Gran Destino Tower after a DHS After Hours event they were doing some sort of construction in the front of the resort and it was completely blocked off to incoming traffic. I slowed down and told the flagger that we are guests staying here and we need to get in, he told me that I had to use the "backstage" entrances where the buses go into the resort. I told him nope, I'm not doing that unless there is someone else back there directing traffic. He told me that I was being too "effing" difficult and making his job harder. I was able to get in through the exit lane of the main entrance, but still it didn't scream pleasant at all. It's a hotel, people come and go at all hours of the day, I get there are less people doing this at 1AM, but it should have been handled so much better.

 

[Jsharp13]

Stayed 1/14 to 1/21 at Boardwalk Villas

Park days is as followed:

14: Epcot
15: MK
16: DHS
17: AK
18: MK
19: Epcot
20: DHS

Utilizing Genie+ with the refresh method worked flawlessly, I don't know if it was something with the crowds and availability still sticking around or what - but it proved to be a valuable tool booking LLs as we went throughout the day. I'll give 2 examples:

At Magic Kingdom, we reserved 7am for Space Mountain (primarily did this since we were rope dropping 7DMT and didn't want to rush over to Jungle Cruise, and also first day using it wasn't really sure of the timing I'd get for a return window at Jungle. The whole intent/mindset I had was to redeem ASAP and avoid "stacking" (unless it was evening and was back at the resort during a nap/break).

Anyways, as it occurred.

Early Entry: 7DMT
9:00am: Space Mountain
Exit of Space Mountain, booked Jungle Cruise 12:30pm. Refreshed until retrieving 10:00am timeslot
Walked on Buzz, Walked on Laugh Floor
10:00am Jungle Cruise
Booked 10:15 Pirates
10:15am Pirates
Booked 2pm Big Thunder. Refreshed until 11:00am timeslot became available
11:00am Big Thunder
Booked 4pm Haunted Mansion, Refreshed until 11:45 became available

etc etc throughout MK until 3pm when we went back to the resort and hopped over to Epcot.

For DHS the last day, was able to book ToT, Mickey's and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Rise (ILL+), Millennium Falcon, Toy Story Mania all before 12pm (walking into the park later at 9:30am to start the day). All done via refreshing and moving the time slots up. Even with the park posting 120min +, booking and refreshing seemed incredibly easy. Just something I would do when in line waiting for pre-shows and/or exiting the ride. I would say never spending more than 3-5 mins each time to acquire a timeslot that worked with us.


Even in the evenings, Stacking and refreshing/modifying times worked really well. One evening, we booked Splash, Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan for 4pm - 5:30pm and was able to ride all 3 rides easily after going to AK in the morning and using LL to walk on every ride. We were done with rides at 10am and used 2 hour rule to book evening events at MK

I believe by "refreshing"... do you mean that you reserved a later G+ return time, then refreshed the app to find an earlier time to modify your G+ time slot to? For example, your 2 pm Big Thunder than you then refreshed and modified to 11 am? Am I understanding correctly?

 

[MinnierellaMama]

Stayed 1/14 to 1/21 at Boardwalk Villas

Park days is as followed:

14: Epcot
15: MK
16: DHS
17: AK
18: MK
19: Epcot
20: DHS

Utilizing Genie+ with the refresh method worked flawlessly, I don't know if it was something with the crowds and availability still sticking around or what - but it proved to be a valuable tool booking LLs as we went throughout the day. I'll give 2 examples:

At Magic Kingdom, we reserved 7am for Space Mountain (primarily did this since we were rope dropping 7DMT and didn't want to rush over to Jungle Cruise, and also first day using it wasn't really sure of the timing I'd get for a return window at Jungle. The whole intent/mindset I had was to redeem ASAP and avoid "stacking" (unless it was evening and was back at the resort during a nap/break).

Anyways, as it occurred.

Early Entry: 7DMT
9:00am: Space Mountain
Exit of Space Mountain, booked Jungle Cruise 12:30pm. Refreshed until retrieving 10:00am timeslot
Walked on Buzz, Walked on Laugh Floor
10:00am Jungle Cruise
Booked 10:15 Pirates
10:15am Pirates
Booked 2pm Big Thunder. Refreshed until 11:00am timeslot became available
11:00am Big Thunder
Booked 4pm Haunted Mansion, Refreshed until 11:45 became available

etc etc throughout MK until 3pm when we went back to the resort and hopped over to Epcot.

For DHS the last day, was able to book ToT, Mickey's and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Rise (ILL+), Millennium Falcon, Toy Story Mania all before 12pm (walking into the park later at 9:30am to start the day). All done via refreshing and moving the time slots up. Even with the park posting 120min +, booking and refreshing seemed incredibly easy. Just something I would do when in line waiting for pre-shows and/or exiting the ride. I would say never spending more than 3-5 mins each time to acquire a timeslot that worked with us.


Even in the evenings, Stacking and refreshing/modifying times worked really well. One evening, we booked Splash, Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan for 4pm - 5:30pm and was able to ride all 3 rides easily after going to AK in the morning and using LL to walk on every ride. We were done with rides at 10am and used 2 hour rule to book evening events at MK

How many were in your party? Trying to determine the best strategy for my group of 6.

 

[KGolf31]

I believe by "refreshing"... do you mean that you reserved a later G+ return time, then refreshed the app to find an earlier time to modify your G+ time slot to? For example, your 2 pm Big Thunder than you then refreshed and modified to 11 am? Am I understanding correctly?

Correct. Go within the Genie+ and click of modify return time (or something with regard to the verbiage) and then simply pull down the window to refresh (much like you'd do for the VQ). Just continue to do this to pull new time requests from Genie+. Sometimes the time may only change 5 minutes, or even get worse (later in the day). But after a bit of playing around you'll find jumps in time slots that "should" improve. The intent is to constantly keep pulling down and refreshing. Better time slots would appear and quickly disappear (or become unavailable) so continuously going ahead and looking at times and trying to book I would say is better than randomly trying to modify and checking, revisiting back 10 mins later etc.

Obviously no guarantee. But we picked our next ride regardless of the return time (within reason here...if it was Peter Pan the likelihood of shaving 5 hours magically seems practically impossible). And then that would start the 2 hour window and we could spend time refreshing. Worst case at least the 2 hour window is now in effect, but in my experience we were able to redeem rides within 2 hours and rebook at the tap points. Sometimes a different ride that we also wanted to ride would show ideal return times, and we'd sort of switch on the fly and book that instead. Making sure your "top" rides are constantly at the top of the Genie+ Window by modifying your day via the Tip Board helps a ton too

On average 6-7 rides within a day via LL was not impossible.

How many were in your party? Trying to determine the best strategy for my group of 6.

Initially during MLK Weekend 4 people, then reduced to 2. Had no issues with either party size.

 

[gottalovepluto]

We just got back from a week at WDW and it was amazing.

Weather was spectacular, crowds were super manageable.

My only negative experiences were the following:

Trying to use mobile check out at the 2 AK stores that utilize this. Both stores there was no one manning the mobile checkout stand, and I had to go wait in the regular checkout line. I'm sorry, but it shouldn't be on the guest to go find someone to use a time saving feature because no one was manning the spot where this should be handled.

The other was after returning to Gran Destino Tower after a DHS After Hours event they were doing some sort of construction in the front of the resort and it was completely blocked off to incoming traffic. I slowed down and told the flagger that we are guests staying here and we need to get in, he told me that I had to use the "backstage" entrances where the buses go into the resort. I told him nope, I'm not doing that unless there is someone else back there directing traffic. He told me that I was being too "effing" difficult and making his job harder. I was able to get in through the exit lane of the main entrance, but still it didn't scream pleasant at all. It's a hotel, people come and go at all hours of the day, I get there are less people doing this at 1AM, but it should have been handled so much better.

I would dash off an email to Disney guest services about the hotel incident. No way that should have been allowed to happen and the belittling language towards guests is unacceptable even for Disney contractors.

 

[peteykirch]

I would dash off an email to Disney guest services about the hotel incident. No way that should have been allowed to happen and the belittling language towards guests is unacceptable even for Disney contractors.

We told one of the CMs behind the check in desk at the Lobby and they wrote up a huge note on the computer about the incident. I don't know if anything will be done about it, but we did report it while we were still down there.

 

[WIll C]

We are back from a week at Disney World. It was a very enjoyable trip all in all. Weather was nice for us cold blooded PNW types can't take the heat so mid 70s was perfect for us. Even the couple of 80s weren't too bad without the humidity.

We had some issues with our room at Riviera as they didn't get my requests and we honestly got one of the worst rooms. 3rd floor by the garbage bins. We got to hear the trucks every morning and weren't high enough to see fireworks. Oh well, wasn't that big of a deal all in all and they gave us some room credit. Love the staff at Riviera as they are all so friendly, especially at Primo Piatto. We only hit 2 days of Skyliner outage so it wasn't too big of a deal. The bus to/from HS is actually faster than the Skyliner, especially at night when Epcot is closing and you have a wheelchair.

Our parks days usually included a break in the middle of the day. My wife doesn't sleep well so we never got there too early but the crowds were pretty moderate and with her DAS and Genie+, we rode all we wanted without too much hassle and didn't over do it. When I was here last in October I really over did it and took a week to recover!

I found that Genie+ Lightning Lanes were pretty open in the first half of the day. I often had issues trying to get them later in the day to fit our schedule. Things did bump up some on the weekend and certain areas were always crowded (looking at you Mexico) but it was nothing like holiday traffic. MK seemed to have the most LLs open. Remy and Frozen tended to go by 1pm, same with FoP and the major HS rides.

There were plenty of Figment popcorn buckets when we were there. The mobile ordering made it all a simple process to get and there were times all the way into the evening. Everyone seemed to have one around their neck but still plenty to go around. We loved looking at all the artwork for FARTS and bought a few small pieces. Tempting on the larger ones but we spent more than enough on regular merch. It was nice that we happened to be there when they gave out the AP magnets as my wife is a big Dumbo fan. Not overly impressed with the 2023 stuff so far but the Disney 100 items are nice and we picked up a few items.

We did the Hollywood Studios after hours. The crowds were low, we rode all we wanted but it was poorly organized with the snacks. They were supposed to have everything at all the locations but we found most places just had drinks/water and popcorn. Only a few places had ice cream and the staff didn't know where to point us. I would have liked to see more in the hub area around MMRR but they were only popcorn. We had to go back into TSL to get what we wanted. A minor quibble and a fun evening.

We had tickets for the MK after hours party but didn't go as it was our last night and we were too tired to deal with a late night and spent most the day doing Epcot and MK before the party so we headed back to the resort. We were told we can use the ticket funds for other events so we'll use them for Halloween or something else when we return.

We skipped a VIP tour due to friends not being able to attend and the price increase from $425 to $600 an hour. Even with our splitting it was just too much an increase and with the after hour parties, it really wasn't worth it. We had a blast last year with it but it was a good time to skip it.

We renewed our APs when we first arrived and that was fairly painless, other than getting Photo pass setup on the right one. They ended up giving us a 30 day pass as it got linked to the wrong one. We also still have some AP vouchers I got from Sam's Club that I'm saving for a rainy day (old plat passes) and that caused havoc with our park passes but GS got it sorted out. Just beware if you still have these hanging around.

 

[Orsino]

Stayed 1/14 to 1/21 at Boardwalk Villas

Park days is as followed:

14: Epcot
15: MK
16: DHS
17: AK
18: MK
19: Epcot
20: DHS

Utilizing Genie+ with the refresh method worked flawlessly, I don't know if it was something with the crowds and availability still sticking around or what - but it proved to be a valuable tool booking LLs as we went throughout the day. I'll give 2 examples:

At Magic Kingdom, we reserved 7am for Space Mountain (primarily did this since we were rope dropping 7DMT and didn't want to rush over to Jungle Cruise, and also first day using it wasn't really sure of the timing I'd get for a return window at Jungle. The whole intent/mindset I had was to redeem ASAP and avoid "stacking" (unless it was evening and was back at the resort during a nap/break).

Anyways, as it occurred.

Early Entry: 7DMT
9:00am: Space Mountain
Exit of Space Mountain, booked Jungle Cruise 12:30pm. Refreshed until retrieving 10:00am timeslot
Walked on Buzz, Walked on Laugh Floor
10:00am Jungle Cruise
Booked 10:15 Pirates
10:15am Pirates
Booked 2pm Big Thunder. Refreshed until 11:00am timeslot became available
11:00am Big Thunder
Booked 4pm Haunted Mansion, Refreshed until 11:45 became available

etc etc throughout MK until 3pm when we went back to the resort and hopped over to Epcot.

For DHS the last day, was able to book ToT, Mickey's and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Rise (ILL+), Millennium Falcon, Toy Story Mania all before 12pm (walking into the park later at 9:30am to start the day). All done via refreshing and moving the time slots up. Even with the park posting 120min +, booking and refreshing seemed incredibly easy. Just something I would do when in line waiting for pre-shows and/or exiting the ride. I would say never spending more than 3-5 mins each time to acquire a timeslot that worked with us.


Even in the evenings, Stacking and refreshing/modifying times worked really well. One evening, we booked Splash, Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan for 4pm - 5:30pm and was able to ride all 3 rides easily after going to AK in the morning and using LL to walk on every ride. We were done with rides at 10am and used 2 hour rule to book evening events at MK

Wow! This is good advice. I read this post yesterday and thought I would give refreshing a try. amazing advice here. I’m usually happy with 5 quality LL at MK. With this advice we got 7 top tier LL with only 6 hours in the park. We arrived late and left at 5:30 pm. I’m sure if we had stayed longer we could have gotten the other LL offered since what was left were not the hard to get ones. As it was we could have gotten Pirates for 6:30, but left the park instead.
Thank you so much for bringing this idea up.

 

[ALDSMD]

Stayed 1/14 to 1/21 at Boardwalk Villas

Park days is as followed:

14: Epcot
15: MK
16: DHS
17: AK
18: MK
19: Epcot
20: DHS

Utilizing Genie+ with the refresh method worked flawlessly, I don't know if it was something with the crowds and availability still sticking around or what - but it proved to be a valuable tool booking LLs as we went throughout the day. I'll give 2 examples:

At Magic Kingdom, we reserved 7am for Space Mountain (primarily did this since we were rope dropping 7DMT and didn't want to rush over to Jungle Cruise, and also first day using it wasn't really sure of the timing I'd get for a return window at Jungle. The whole intent/mindset I had was to redeem ASAP and avoid "stacking" (unless it was evening and was back at the resort during a nap/break).

Anyways, as it occurred.

Early Entry: 7DMT
9:00am: Space Mountain
Exit of Space Mountain, booked Jungle Cruise 12:30pm. Refreshed until retrieving 10:00am timeslot
Walked on Buzz, Walked on Laugh Floor
10:00am Jungle Cruise
Booked 10:15 Pirates
10:15am Pirates
Booked 2pm Big Thunder. Refreshed until 11:00am timeslot became available
11:00am Big Thunder
Booked 4pm Haunted Mansion, Refreshed until 11:45 became available

etc etc throughout MK until 3pm when we went back to the resort and hopped over to Epcot.

For DHS the last day, was able to book ToT, Mickey's and Minnie's Runaway Railway, Rise (ILL+), Millennium Falcon, Toy Story Mania all before 12pm (walking into the park later at 9:30am to start the day). All done via refreshing and moving the time slots up. Even with the park posting 120min +, booking and refreshing seemed incredibly easy. Just something I would do when in line waiting for pre-shows and/or exiting the ride. I would say never spending more than 3-5 mins each time to acquire a timeslot that worked with us.


Even in the evenings, Stacking and refreshing/modifying times worked really well. One evening, we booked Splash, Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan for 4pm - 5:30pm and was able to ride all 3 rides easily after going to AK in the morning and using LL to walk on every ride. We were done with rides at 10am and used 2 hour rule to book evening events at MK

Can you please explain the refreshing and modifying method. The last time I went there wasn't any modifying of existing bookings. Thank you.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Can you please explain the refreshing and modifying method. The last time I went there wasn't any modifying of existing bookings. Thank you.

Please see timestamp 4:30 of this video. Molly explains it very easily.

 

[SheSingsAlong]

Sitting at our gate at MCO heading home after a glorious week at Disney. We rented DVC points to stay at BCV. Requested first floor, but assigned 327. Honestly, it was a great room. Near elevators w/o being able to hear them. Our balcony looked at the France pavilion of Epcot (through the trees) and we could hear Harmonious and see it's fireworks! We could also hear the cover band performing at the rear of the UK pavilion which was extremely enjoyable in the late afternoons as we prepared to head back to the parks.

We had 4 park days w/ hopping. My husband is now totally sold on both hoppers and staying deluxe for the extended evening hours. We would rope drop a park, take a long break after lunch, then head to a second park where we had stacked G+ LL all day. The only day that G+ wasn't really worth the cost was our last park day. DD (6 y/o) just could not handle another late evening, so all the LL I had stacked went to waste. We did Animal Kingdom that AM w/o using G+ and it was totally manageable with Early Entry rope dropping.

I've already mentioned, but it's worth saying again: the modify function for G+ is AMAZING. I used G+ a year ago and it was fine, but a lot more of a gamble. Now, just make sure you are booking something (anything) each time you are able so you keep the clock running for your next G+ and then work on modify your selections to be what you want. I did not feel like I was on my phone all day. I spent tons of time enjoying my family and my surroundings and modifying my LLs was a great way to pass the time while standing in lines now and then. Very few LL can't be modified. Slinky after noon or so becomes very difficult to impossible to modify.

We only paid for 1 ILL$ (Rise of the Resistance) and that was pretty painful dropping over $100 before 7am between G+ and the ILL$. I wouldn't have done it except HS is a tricky park when you've got a thrill seeking 6 y/o who can't wait more than 30ish minutes in a line.

Absolutely loved the Extended Evening Hours and feel they bring real value to staying deluxe. Wish they would expand to offering a night at HS like they did during the holiday season. At EP we rode Test Track 3 times and Soarin' once. At MK we rode Space Mountain twice, Big Thunder once, and Peter Pan (it rained around 11pm which prevented us getting more done). Also the food vendors were basically giving things away at the end of the night because no one was left LOL

All in all a really great trip. Not sure I want to do a whole week next time. It's a long time to be away from my bed and my kitties.

 

[mousehouse23]

My husband and I are DVC, and just returned from a whirlwind 3 nighter (1/25-1/28). Here are some random impressions:

• We stayed the first night at the Grand Floridian Villas (Lagoon View). Absolutely loved the new Resort Studio rooms. They really are gorgeous. Not a fan of the Keurig coffee, though (so weak!). It was our first stay at the VGF, and while I was a little disappointed by the balcony (it was top floor, and walled off, so you couldn't see out when you were sitting down), I loved the easy walk to MK and the unmatched elegance of this resort.
• We then moved to the Boardwalk, which is our absolute favorite. (Though I am looking forward to its refurbishment. Give me a bedside table on both sides of the bed and more USBs, please!) Stalked forever to get BW view, which was not quite as worth it as it has been in trips past, because it was a little chilly, and we didn't use it as much as we normally do. Loved the nighttime view of the fireworks, though! And the Boardwalk atmosphere is tough to beat. That music is just so relaxing and perfect.
• Tried the crumb cake at the new Carousel Coffee at the BW, and found it rather disappointing. Didn't seem fresh, even early in the a.m. Ah, well. Heard several raves on a podcast I listen to, but we didn't feel like it was anything special.
• Tried Skipper Canteen for the first time. I liked the Dan Dan noodles, but I won't be itching to go back real soon. We prefer Liberty Tree, I think. We were seated in the main room, though, and might have enjoyed it more in one of the cozier side rooms.
• Loved the new Modify feature of Genie+. Magic Kingdom was strangely dead on Wednesday night, and we stacked a ton of LL. Try to hit Seven Dwarfs during Enchantment if you don't want to pay for ILL, and aren't interested in seeing the fireworks (or are seeing them on a different night). The line was pretty short then.
• I hate to say it, but I'm tired of Hollywood Studios. To me, it's always the park that causes me the most stress and headaches, and the joy that comes from it doesn't make up for the trouble. I think in the future, I'm going to forget Rope Drop, and just stack LL throughout the day for the evening. Tower of Terror was down, so that was a further annoyance. And I can't, for the life of me, get terribly excited for Galaxy's Edge, though I know I should be! Honestly, probably enjoyed One Man's Dream more than anything else that morning. Backlot Express was its normal, fine, unremarkable self.
• Tried Olivia's at Old Key West for brunch one day. Absolutely loved it! I got the breakfast, and my husband got the Butter Chicken. We will definitely be back. It was so nice to walk around the resort, too. OKW is so laid back. It's a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the parks.
• I love EPCOT more than almost anywhere on earth, and you usually have to drag me out of there at night kicking and screaming, but last night was the first time I was ready to leave before 9:00 pm. I'm just really tired of the drinking. Some of that was on us, as it was a Friday night, but Thursday night was pretty bad, too. My husband and I have been as upset about APs not coming back as a lot of you are, but there was a tiny part of me last night that thought: Oh. I get it now. This place is NUTS.
• I still like Flower & Garden more than the Festival of the Arts. EPCOT's just so pretty during the former. Also, almost all of the art at this festival is Disney themed, which, while understandable, wasn't as interesting to us.
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind was fantastic as always. Can't wait for our kids to experience it this summer. We actually got into the Virtual Queue at 2:45, after park hopping from Animal Kingdom! That was an unexpected surprise.
• Impressions de France should never go away. It's 15 minutes of peace and happiness.
• The new(ish) Canada movie was a little disappointing. You have Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara and don't make better use of them?? But it had been a while since we ventured back into the Canada pavilion, and it was lovely to walk around.

Those are just some random things off the top of my head. Overall, we had a great time...I just think we'll try to visit EPCOT more during morning/afternoon from now on. I love seeing her all lit up at night, but I can't take the crowds in World Showcase anymore. I would say it's worse during festival nights, but let's face it--that's pretty much every night nowadays!

 

[vinotinto]

Hello fellow DISers! We are back from a short trip! We were there January 18 - 22. We stayed at the Contemporary. Here was our main schedule:

• Jan 18 - MK - dinner at Storybook Dining, evening at MK, Enchantment, rides via G+ (we did all the main rides from 8:30 - 11pm), plan was to do Deluxe Hours, but we were too tired and left at around 11:20pm.
• Jan 19 - DHS - Galaxy's Edge Baatu Bounty Hunters. Rides via G+: ToT, RnRC, MMRR, and TSMM. B&tB (standby). HBD F! Package dinner, F!
• Jan 20 - Epcot - GotG via ILL and GotG via virtual queue. G+: Remy, TT, Soarin. Space 220 lunch. Spice Road Fireworks package dinner. Harmonious.
• Jan 21 - Epcot - GotG via virtual queue, G+: Frozen, Spaceship Earth, Mission Space. World Showcase / FotA booths. Broadway Concert. California Grill dinner.
• Jan 22 - AK - G+: Safari, Everest, Navi, FotLK. ILL for Avatar. Lunch 1 at Satuli. Lunch 2 at Nomad's Lounge. Fly home.

This was our first trip in 2.5 years. We used to be regulars (even out of state passholders at some point). What I will say for anyone who is annoyed with recent changes, upcharges, etc., is that it is time to take a break. We did and were very happy to be back, but we needed that break.

G+ - I liked G+. There, I said it. Getting up at 7am is annoying (I felt more tired during the day). But, the moment that I appreciated G+ was when we decided after our one Epcot day (Friday), that we really wanted to return to Epcot the next day, and at 10pm, I just switched our park reservations and that was it. Previously, I would not have wanted to deviate from the plan because we would have only had the FP leftovers. After years of rigid scheduling at Disney, it felt liberating to do the next day whatever we felt like doing. I loved that we did not have to worry about overlapping times, etc. If something overlapped, it was OK. To me, it felt easy and less rigid. Epcot, you need 2 days to get all the main rides. Cannot really get Remy, TT, and Frozen in one day.

MK - Speaking of changing one of our days to do a second day at Epcot. Our original plan was MK on arrival evening, DHS, Epcot, AK, MK on departure day. Not one of us wanted a second half day at MK and we all wanted a second day at Epcot and at least a half day at AK. MK desperately needs more - it needs live shows, better dining, wine booths, better rides and interactive games. I can't believe they took away Sorcerers of the MK and the food situation inside the park is uninspiring. Tron opening should help a little, but 3 hours at MK was all my family needed. I realize it's different with little kids, and that my view may be unpopular, but it did not seem as fun as Epcot, DHS and AK.

GotG - Everyone LOVED it! I, unfortunately, got such a bad case of motion sickness after it that I had to go lay down that afternoon. If you suffer from motion sickness, this will make you miserable. For comparisons, I have no problem with Soarin or Avatar, but HP Forbidden Journey in Universal also gets to me, but nothing was as bad as GotG. Which is too bad because it is an amazing ride.

Evening entertainment - Loved the new Fantasmic and Harmonious and thought Enchantment was pretty good too. Harmonious is so much better than Epcot Forever and Illuminations. Crazy that people complained about it!

The food was really good: a few notches above the few years before the pandemic. But, budget accordingly. We spent $2500 on food and drinks for 2 adults and 2 teens in 3 full days and 2 half days. So more than $500/day. Yes, if you avoid the prix-fixe meals you can do it cheaper.

First time staying at the Contemporary, and we enjoyed it more than what I thought we would. Felt very Disney; walk to MK is very short and the monorail to Epcot was fun. Room was very spacious with comfy beds and very thoughtful design, and I loved the Incredibles theme. Contempo was easy for a quick breakfast and snacks and Joffrey's coffee in the lobby was great.

That's all that I have to share. Let me know if you have any questions!

EDIT - One more thing. WOW on the low crowds! January after MLK was AMAZING! We usually visit in October, or summer, or Memorial Day, or Labor Day, or President's Day, or Spring Break and this was sooooo much better! The only time it felt a bit more crowded was Saturday in Epcot during the festival, but that wasn't remotely as bad as a Saturday during Food and Wine. We went at this time because of a conference, as the kids are in school at this time.

 

[scrappinginontario]

The Skyliner was scheduled to be closed for refurbishment from Jan 22-29, 2023.

Can anyone confirm if it is open or closed now?

Thanks!

 

[crazy4wdw]

The Skyliner was scheduled to be closed for refurbishment from Jan 22-29, 2023.

Can anyone confirm if it is open or closed now?

Thanks!

Blog Mickey is reporting that the skyliner has reopened

https://mickeyblog.com/2023/01/30/disney-skyliners-are-back-after-week-long-maintenance/

 

[leeniewdw]

GotG - Everyone LOVED it! I, unfortunately, got such a bad case of motion sickness after it that I had to go lay down that afternoon. If you suffer from motion sickness, this will make you miserable. For comparisons, I have no problem with Soarin or Avatar, but HP Forbidden Journey in Universal also gets to me, but nothing was as bad as GotG. Which is too bad because it is an amazing ride.

I don't know if I've "outgrown" my motion sickness issues or what, but GotG did not bother me in the least! In recent years I've tried not to read/watch ANYTHING about new rides to experience them with no preconceived notions, but the "may cause motion sickness" somehow got thru to me, though I didn't really know how it worked. Anyway, I was very nervous since we had a group of 6 and didn't want to be a downer if I felt crappy afterward. I didn't at all. I wish I knew what the deal was, but I know many years ago SPACE got to me and now that doesn't. Perhaps 1 thing about getting old is good? LOL

We rode it twice and it was so fantastic (made a repeat visit to Epcot when that wasn't the original plan). We swore we wouldn't go back to WDW in the upcoming years because we've been fairly often in last 3, but honestly, I'd consider a winter getaway to enjoy some warmth and just hit EPCOT for 1 day during a festival and ride GotG.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I don't know if I've "outgrown" my motion sickness issues or what, but GotG did not bother me in the least!

Link to thread with extensive discussion on GOTG motion sickness issues so we don't derail. (The conclusion is nobody knows how they will react until they try it.)

 

[m3bolton]

We are going into EPCOT next Wednesday (2/8). Wondering what this week's weekday crowds were like. Anyone been there done that and can report???

 

[Smugpugmug]

I went to Epcot on tuesday (1/31) and it wasn't bad at all. If you rope dropped, I think you could've done everything without buying Genie+. I saw that Remy had a 30-40 minute wait up until 11 am when it went up to 70. Frozen and Test Track were in the 40-70 minute range throughout the day. The lines for the festival booths weren't super long either. The only area that was difficult to walk through due to crowds were by the construction walls.