April 2022 - Offsite Trip Report - Now including offsite ROTR

[Haagen Dawgs]

It’s nice to hear you are enjoying Sabal! It’s our home resort and we have always loved it. If you’re looking for a more low key pool then world centre, royal is worth checking out. They let you carry over your own (non glass) drinks

It has been so nice and peaceful here. I swear we’ve seen hundreds of lizards running around, ducks, turtles, etc. I wouldn’t hesitate to book here again.

 

[DisneyDarlingness]

Wow what a fantastic and to the point report! Hilarious too, really appreciate your taking the time to share. Keep it coming and I hope you and the family have a great rest of the trip!!

 

[tigerlilly]

Your trip report writing skills are on point! Sorry your Epcot day was so rough! Look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

SUPER IMPORTANT:

So, those of you that are following know Epcot was a disaster and I have also researched to a T. Well, I missed something which we all are likely to do despite our best efforts. For Epcot Day, I did not SELECT My Day. I just hit the box to go to My Genie Day and Tip Board and straight to the tip board. As a result, I did not choose my party for the day. Each time I attempted to book an experience, I had to manually add my wife and two kids…it didn’t take long, perhaps 5 seconds total, but it was enough to keep me from getting the headliners.

Case in point, Hollywood Studios. Today I went through the motions to put ROTR (hahahahah, not happening), Slinky, and MNMRR, while also selecting my party. By selecting the party now, I don’t have to manually add them later.

Real Life Example…I got Slinky Dog moving as fast as I could this morning and got 3:55. It was sold out when I refreshed so that may be the difference on the day. Fingers crossed. My little one is going to be so excited. Slinky Dog has been the ride talked about the most prior to the trip.

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

RISE OF THE RESISTANCE:

That’s why y’all are here, right? So general admission to the park is 8 am this morning. At 7:55 am, there were return times for ROTR at 11:45 am. Over the next four minutes, these would sell out. I imagine what happened during these five-minutes is that parents everywhere were having the following conversation:

Parent 1: Honey, the offsite people are going to book this ride in five-minutes and we will have to wait 2-hours.

Parent 2: Do you know how much we spent on the park ticket and to stay at Disney so far? You really want to spend $60 more?

1: This is why we stayed at Disney. So we could book ROTR. What is another $60 more at this point?

2: I don’t know, seems silly to me. And those $60 add-up. That is like 3 Mickey Bars!

1: There are only two-minutes left and return times are now at 6:45 pm.

2. Fine, book it.

1: Are you sure.

2: Book it.

1: You sound mad.

2: I’m going to be mad if you don’t book it.

My dreams of getting ROTR advanced entry are momentarily crushed.

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

But Disney is now withholding some drops for scheduled release. I saw some drop at 8:02 and 8:05. Despite my fast fingers, I was told there were none available as soon as I clicked.

Let me tell you who did get it. There was some dude riding Slinky Dog at 8 am. He got off the ride at 8:04, laughed and high-fives the family about how awesome the ride was. His youngest daughter hugged him and said he was the best daddy. The son says, what about Rise of the Resistance? Dad opens his app, sees that ROTR is available, clicks it, books it, and says to himself, “That wasn’t hard at all. I don’t know what the big deal is. How magical”. Son hugs him and says he is the best daddy in the world.

In the meantime, I’m throwing my keyboard and traumatizing my 6-year old who just wants milk and cookies for breakfast.

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

Disney continues to make ROTR drops every five-minutes. At 8:10, no luck. At 8:15 am, it is a fairly large drop and I select the latest time available in hopes of getting one. I make it to the next screen and it appears I have done it; however, the app then asks me to sign in again? Clearly, I killed a Jawa in a previous life. By the time I log back in, my time has expired.

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

Got the 8:20 am drop. Went again for the latest time and got 7:50 pm. Our families will never know how much effort we go through on these trips and how neurotic we are. I get to breathe now until 10 am for the next G+ booking. Going to be a stacking day.

 

[tigerlilly]

Oh I am so glad you were able to get ROTR!!! Ermmmm I am not sure I will be able to do all this work when we go in Sept. (thankfully it is just my old husband and my old self lol)... Have an amazing day!!!!!

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

I’m updating in somewhat real time. Got Smuggler’s Run at 10 am.

SUPER IMPORTANT. At noon, things were pretty picked over. Nothing available for Slinky, ROTR, TOT, and Smuggler’s Run. MNMRR 8 pm return and Toy Story 6:40 pm. Current standby 135, 130, 135 and 70.

I didn’t pull the trigger on a G+ at noon. Waited until 12:02…the :02 drop. Got ToT at 2 pm.

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

Once again, skipped the booking window at 2 pm. Got the MNMRR at 8:30 which works as we pass it on the way out of the park.

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

Day 7:

Well, I have officially gamed the system. Reading my reports, it comes off as a bit of bravado, but truly, my goal is to give you the tools to game the system as well. G+ stacking is really the way to go; with that being said, we will be out the door early tomorrow for a, hopefully, relatively quick trip to AK before heading home early Sunday. My wife has nothing left in the tank.

I am also going to be a millionaire. I have created the weight loss plan to put Oprah, Noom, Nutrisystem…shoot, all of them out of business. Here is a sneak preview:

1. Go to Disney.
2. Walk.
3. The End

Logged over 16,000 steps and over 7 miles today. While my feet hurt, they are feeling much better overall despite the record-setting day. That may be attributed to the day off yesterday or the fact the weather was perfect. Peaked at 73 with a steady breeze all day.

Arrived at 1 pm. Immediately caught a parade. Went to Muppets 3-D. I’m a fan. Hit Frozen After Ever. Holy smokes did my youngest love it. For any of you that have watched Two and a Half Men, it was the equivalent of Charlie Waffles and an auditorium full of young children.

Used a G+ for ToT at 2 pm. It was a standby by of 140 minutes and stayed that way until park close. My 14-year old had an anxiety attack shortly before riding and was escorted out. My six-year old thought it was the greatest thing ever. Caught some Mickey bars on the way out and headed to Indiana Jones. The auditorium was full by a smidge. Went to Star Tours instead for a quick 15-minute wait.

From here we went to Toy Story Land. Let’s pause here. The whole park is awesome. Despite the fact that I could walk 500 miles, the park layout is superb. 10-years ago, this was my least favorite park by far. Now, it is only behind Magic Kingdom. It is firmly in 2nd and what a job Disney has done with the park.

Used G+ #2 on Slinky Dog. Standby was 130 minutes. The ride was really fun, but again, I have yet to find a ride worth waiting an hour for, much less over two-hours. While I still had G+ booked, there would be no new ones added. Never made it on Toy Store Mania. It was consistently an hour to an hour and a half all day. Same for RNRollercoater. Love it, but it lived in the 75+ minutes all day.

So after Slinky, we found ourselves with the first world-problem of having three-hours to kill before our Star Wars rides kicked in. Headed to Galaxy’s Edge to take it all in. Stopped to have lunch and had the highly recommended Rhondo Wrap with the root vegetable chips. The girls split a couple orders of Chicken with Mac and Cheese. The wrap was good. I could take or leave the chips, but I appreciated the effort. Thumbs down on the chicken, but the Mac and Cheese was enjoyed by the girls.

Side note…embrace the technology. With mobile ordering, we had our food within minutes, just like at MK. The line to order in person was over 20-minutes.

After that, we just took in the beautiful theming of GE. I give the nod to Harry Potter World though and I am a huge SW fan…that isn’t a knock on GE, it is more a well-deserved atta boy to Universal. The Millenium Falcon is awesome. After some shopping, we camped out near it for about 90 minutes just loving the weather and the people watching.

Finally used G+ #3 for Smuggler’s Run. It was just after 7:30 and the line was coming down to around an hour, but we zoomed through it. The theming inside was top-notch as well the cockpit for the ride. I was underwhelmed by the ride itself, but it was still cool.

Immediately headed over to RotR for our $ILL. Without giving anything away, the ride is essentially three-parts. We got to the start of the third part and the ride broke down for at least the third time of the day. My disappointment was real and I did my best not to let it add to the girls’ disappointment.

Headed to MNMRR for G+ #4. The park had a really cool show being performed on the ride’s outer building. The ride itself got me back in a good mood. Definitely a younger kid’s ride, but it was classic Disney and all charm. I couldn’t help but smile.

Hopping off, it was 8:59 and ROTR was back up. Thought it was a fool’s errand as the park closed at 9 pm, but headed back. The CM’s didn’t hesitate to let me through the Express Lane. I have to say, it is worth the price of admission. I can also see why it breaks down so much. The ride is incredibly ambitious. Is it as good as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey? I don’t know. So very different. I’d say yes, but the recurring breakdowns of 30-minutes or more likely speaks to Disney’s aforementioned ambition and perhaps even arrogance…kinda like me

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

Reporting out for the day. Hollywood Studios was a 9/10.

 

[jrmint427]

Using XPress today saved us an estimated six-hours

Wow! Did you do the unlimited or just normal Xpress where you can skip each line once? I couldn't believe the price but we're just going for a day so I bought the use-once-per-ride Xpress pass for that day.

Got the 8:20 am drop.

This gives me some hope! We are staying offsite and everyone in my family really wants ROTR, of course. I'm very nervous about whether I'll be able to deliver.

I didn’t pull the trigger on a G+ at noon. Waited until 12:02…the :02 drop. Got ToT at 2 pm.

This is so good to know!

Immediately headed over to RotR for our $ILL. Without giving anything away, the ride is essentially three-parts. We got to the start of the third part and the ride broke down for at least the third time of the day. My disappointment was real and I did my best not to let it add to the girls’ disappointment.

I was going to ask if they gave you your ILL back for another time - did you just have to ask the CM at the LL line later in the day to get back on? It seems like for what they charge you should at least get the full ride once you pay!

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

Wow! Did you do the unlimited or just normal Xpress where you can skip each line once? I couldn't believe the price but we're just going for a day so I bought the use-once-per-ride Xpress pass for that day.

This gives me some hope! We are staying offsite and everyone in my family really wants ROTR, of course. I'm very nervous about whether I'll be able to deliver.

This is so good to know!

I was going to ask if they gave you your ILL back for another time - did you just have to ask the CM at the LL line later in the day to get back on? It seems like for what they charge you should at least get the full ride once you pay!

Hey JrMint, thank you for following. I did Unlimited. It was one of the few purchases I regretted this week…the others being lunch at Biergarten and really Epcot in general. My daughter and I used it exactly once to ride The Forbidden Journey twice. If you are a roller-coaster junkie who wants to ride Hulk or Rip Rocket Roller Coaster. The six-hours was based on over an hour saved on Hulk, 90-minutes for Forbidden Journey x 2, Gringott’s, Spider-Man, and Skull Island.

You can definitely get ROTR. Just have to be neurotic enough to continue to refresh longer than everyone else for 20-minutes or so.

For TOT or really any ride, I’d start this strategy four- tor six-hours after park open. You want to book your first one right at 7 am abd the 2nd two-hours after park open. You should still have everything you want available for those two-slots. By the time you book the third or fourth, you are going to be out of top-tier choices. This is when the strategy will kick-in to wait a couple minutes to book after a subsequent drop. Just remember, you are going to have to wait another two-hours after you book that third or fourth pass, so if you wait to book at say 1:02 pm instead of 1 pm, you will not be able to book again until 3:02 pm while the masses will be booking at 3 pm. This is kinda the point, but want to make sure you understand where I’m going for this. Feel free to have me elaborate if necessary.

They scan your account. Our $ILL was good for that night, the next day, or a refund. If you waited standby, you will get the chance to use it the following day only on ROTR or on any other non-paid $ILL at another park. You can not return the same day on ROTR without waiting in line again in standby. You can only return XPress the same day if it was $ILL. If you were standing in line when it breaks down, you can either wait it out or you are SOL. My understanding is that once you encounter Rey or later on the ride, your only option is to be escorted off the ride with the above options. If you are before that, it is wait or leave with no compensation. CM’s do have the flexibility to credit anyone who is standing in line with some sort of compensation, but I wouldn’t rely on it.

Hope this helps!

 

[jrmint427]

I did Unlimited. It was one of the few purchases I regretted this week…the others being lunch at Biergarten and really Epcot in general.

Haha! Good to know! We seriously considered unlimited but I was worried we wouldn't have time to really take advantage of it since we're trying to do both parks in one day.

The six-hours was based on over an hour saved on Hulk, 90-minutes for Forbidden Journey x 2, Gringott’s, Spider-Man, and Skull Island.

Well this is making me feel good about the decision to get Xpress, we're still undecided on Hulk but want to ride all the others, so sounds like it will be worth it. We're going on a high crowd day.

You can definitely get ROTR. Just have to be neurotic enough to continue to refresh longer than everyone else for 20-minutes or so.

I can be neurotic! I'm feeling better about our chances now... will keep refreshing.

This was very helpful, thank you!

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

Haha! Good to know! We seriously considered unlimited but I was worried we wouldn't have time to really take advantage of it since we're trying to do both parks in one day.

Well this is making me feel good about the decision to get Xpress, we're still undecided on Hulk but want to ride all the others, so sounds like it will be worth it. We're going on a high crowd day.

I can be neurotic! I'm feeling better about our chances now... will keep refreshing.

This was very helpful, thank you!

Just to let you know, Hulk is incredibly smooth. If you or anyone in your party get anxiety from coasters, rip-ride rocket or whatever it is called is the one to worry about, not Hulk.

 

[Haagen Dawgs]

Day 8(000):

It’s over. It is blessedly over. I jest. An amazing trip. Final thoughts and summary in the next couple days. The blog didn’t generate quite the traffic I had hoped for, but with over 2,000 views, my goal was to have a positive impact on as many folks’ trips as possible. We are the planners, the dreamers, the thankless purveyors of touring expediency. To the day:

Got up early (of course) and G+ Kilimanjaro Safari. I could easily see the argument for not using the G+ at AK, but for my dollar, it was well worth it. Out of everything we spend our money on for these trips, time is a luxury worth paying for in this guy’s opinion. At 7:30 am (park open today), I booked FOP for 1:25 pm. There was no rush at all. While I did see times steadily get later throughout the day, there was no urgency needed.

We got to the park a little after 9 am. Another beautiful day. Didn’t hit 70 while at the park and again had a steady, enjoyable breeze. Our southern brethren had anything from long-sleeve T-shirts to winter jackets. Checked in to our G+ for the Safari at 9:25 am and proceeded to book Na’vi River Journey for 1:15 pm. The current Safari wait wasn’t terrible at 55 minutes…and again, the weather makes a huge difference in all aspects of touring.

I am a huge fan of the safari and the animals were incredibly active early in the morning. Almost worth the price of park admission in and of itself. Upon exiting, did the Gorilla Mist trail. It was nice, but walking is anathema at this point in the trip. My oldest wanted to see the Lion King stage show. I’m not one for live-stage performances…I readily admit I’m a bit of a Neanderthal, but it was truly a great experience. All my girls absolutely loved it.

Leaving the show, two-hours had passed since booking Na’vi, so I added Dinosaur for 1 pm. From the show, headed to Asia and walked-on to the Feathered Friends in Flight which was one-minute into the presentation. Loved this as well. Next was Kali River Rapids. It hadn’t garnered much traffic earlier in the day due to temperatures and we still were able to ride standby in less than 20 minutes.

Next was Bug’s Life. And from there, the final stretch. Headed to Dinosaur which was just shy of an hour wait, so the G+ worked. Surprisingly, this ride scared my six-year old the most on the trip. As we had G+ stacked, we immediately headed to Pandora. A strange IP choice for sure. I don’t know anyone who gets excited about Avatar, but maybe I’m just out of the loop. The theming was beautiful to say the least, so there is that.

Used our G+ for Na’vi, which was sitting at 60 minutes. Side note…the Photo Pass people were out in droves today. We got at least six- or seven-photos from the service at AK. And the trip finale, Flight of Passage. I had no idea what to expect. The wait was 120-minutes so felt good about the $ILL. My six-year old is small for her age and was measured three separate times throughout the queue. She wasn’t even heavy enough for the pre-show station which reacted to the weight of the riders.

Suffice to say, she got to ride and I’m thrilled she was able to experience it. If you have been following this blog (thank-you), I have been highly complimentary about Forbidden Journey, RotR, Galaxy’s Edge, and Potter-World. Let’s end it right here…

…Greatest Ride at Any Park Ever. If the line had been an hour, I would have had my first wait over 20-minutes the entire week. I would have paid to ride it again.

Headed out of the park around 3 pm, grabbed lunch out of the park, took the girls to the pool and are planning to head out around 6 am tomorrow.

Final thoughts in a day or two.

 

[AquaGlitter]

Day 8(000):

It’s over. It is blessedly over. I jest. An amazing trip. Final thoughts and summary in the next couple days. The blog didn’t generate quite the traffic I had hoped for, but with over 2,000 views, my goal was to have a positive impact on as many folks’ trips as possible. We are the planners, the dreamers, the thankless purveyors of touring expediency. To the day:

Got up early (of course) and G+ Kilimanjaro Safari. I could easily see the argument for not using the G+ at AK, but for my dollar, it was well worth it. Out of everything we spend our money on for these trips, time is a luxury worth paying for in this guy’s opinion. At 7:30 am (park open today), I booked FOP for 1:25 pm. There was no rush at all. While I did see times steadily get later throughout the day, there was no urgency needed.

We got to the park a little after 9 am. Another beautiful day. Didn’t hit 70 while at the park and again had a steady, enjoyable breeze. Our southern brethren had anything from long-sleeve T-shirts to winter jackets. Checked in to our G+ for the Safari at 9:25 am and proceeded to book Na’vi River Journey for 1:15 pm. The current Safari wait wasn’t terrible at 55 minutes…and again, the weather makes a huge difference in all aspects of touring.

I am a huge fan of the safari and the animals were incredibly active early in the morning. Almost worth the price of park admission in and of itself. Upon exiting, did the Gorilla Mist trail. It was nice, but walking is anathema at this point in the trip. My oldest wanted to see the Lion King stage show. I’m not one for live-stage performances…I readily admit I’m a bit of a Neanderthal, but it was truly a great experience. All my girls absolutely loved it.

Leaving the show, two-hours had passed since booking Na’vi, so I added Dinosaur for 1 pm. From the show, headed to Asia and walked-on to the Flights of Passage which was one-minute into the presentation. Loved this as well. Next was Kali River Rapids. It hadn’t garnered much traffic earlier in the day due to temperatures and we still were able to ride standby in less than 20 minutes.

Next was Bug’s Life. And from there, the final stretch. Headed to Dinosaur which was just shy of an hour wait, so the G+ worked. Surprisingly, this ride scared my six-year old the most on the trip. As we had G+ stacked, we immediately headed to Pandora. A strange IP choice for sure. I don’t know anyone who gets excited about Avatar, but maybe I’m just out of the loop. The theming was beautiful to say the least, so there is that.

Used our G+ for Na’vi, which was sitting at 60 minutes. Side note…the Photo Pass people were out in droves today. We got at least six- or seven-photos from the service at AK. And the trip finale, Flight of Passage. I had no idea what to expect. The wait was 120-minutes so felt good about the $ILL. My six-year old is small for her age and was measured three separate times throughout the queue. She wasn’t even heavy enough for the pre-show station which reacted to the weight of the riders.

Suffice to say, she got to ride and I’m thrilled she was able to experience it. If you have been following this blog (thank-you), I have been highly complimentary about Forbidden Journey, RotR, Galaxy’s Edge, and Potter-World. Let’s end it right here…

…Greatest Ride at Any Park Ever. If the line had been an hour, I would have had my first wait over 20-minutes the entire week. I would have paid to ride it again.

Headed out of the park around 3 pm, grabbed lunch out of the park, took the girls to the pool and are planning to head out around 6 am tomorrow.

Final thoughts in a day or two.

Thanks for this excellent report! I’ve been enjoying it and found it incredibly useful for my upcoming trip. You made me feel confident that with a bit of planning we can have a great trip!