Are you a LL nerd and could lend me your ear?

[Hisgirl]

With the newest LL changes, I've lost my edge. I'm overwhelmed at all the blogs and articles. I have some specific questions and was wondering if there was someone who could just sit with me and answer my questions.

Maybe there's a Q&A thread and I just haven't found it. Or, if there is one, is it 220 pages long? I'm aware of Ear Scouts and have watched some videos but I'd love to just talk with someone who knows all the ins and outs.

Is that you?

 

[scrappinginontario]

I would recommend reading the last pages of this thread. If you have additional questions after that, please add them here or there.

People here are very good at answering if you write down your specific questions.

 

[pibbette]

Honestly, I don't see it being incredibly difficult at this point. I just booked my entire Labor Day weekend's trip's worth this morning without much issue. There's so much good stuff in each park now (minus AK) that the bookings get spread around decently (minus Slinky Dog....)

 

[sdc10]

If you are familar with genie plus, you are going to be familiar with the new system.

Its very straightforward. You just buy the LL for the day. Make 3 choices when your reservation time comes up (7 days ahead of arrival if staying on property), then you can also buy the single pass (individual lightning lane if you choose).

Thats really it, after you scan in for your first ride you can then book a new reservation and adjust times for others. You make a new reservation each time you scan into one.

Happy to answer any other questions, but its really not as difficult as blogs and youtube video make it out to be.

 

[Lumpy1106]

We just went last week. We RD'ed every day but one (switched resorts that day) and took an afternoon break every day. We DID NOT use LL at all and did not regret it for a second. In fact, during our final wait of the trip (45 minutes for FoP) I was thinking how we had saved nearly $60 in that line alone for myself and my 2 kids. We saw absolutely everything we wanted to see.

If you really must sleep in and get up late then consider the cost of LLMP being the cost for doing so. I personally am sold on taking that break when lines are long and the heat oppressive.

 

[mickeymom629]

We just went last week. We RD'ed every day but one (switched resorts that day) and took an afternoon break every day. We DID NOT use LL at all and did not regret it for a second. In fact, during our final wait of the trip (45 minutes for FoP) I was thinking how we had saved nearly $60 in that line alone for myself and my 2 kids. We saw absolutely everything we wanted to see.

Would you mind sharing your itinerary or mini report? We're going with a larger group but hope to avoid buying LL if I can get everyone out the door in the a.m.!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Would you mind sharing your itinerary or mini report? We're going with a larger group but hope to avoid buying LL if I can get everyone out the door in the a.m.!

I would suggest you read the Trip Reports area of DISboards as those people like to share their experiences. It’s a lot to request someone share thei r plans and strategies unless they offer to.

YouTube also has a lot of great info. I would recommend:
- Mammouth Club
- Ear Scouts
- AllEars.Net

 

[Lumpy1106]

Here's what we RDed (stayed on property, RIV and BLT);
MK - TBA (rode it twice in rapid succession). We did not ride Tron but could have had we wanted to wait over an hour. We chose to do other things twice instead. We saw all the shows and had dinner at CRT to give you an idea - we had time.
DHS - SDD. DW will rode SDD but not RnRC or ToT but honestly I think both of those in that order is the better RD pick.
EPCOT - TT3. If you can be on the rope at RD then maybe GOTG, but that one takes a while even if you are first on and you want to get to a 2nd ride in the first 30 mins if you can. Frozen is my next priority because that line crawls once the LLMPs start filling in the line. Just know you will be waiting for GOTG for however long that might take - for us it was about an hour.
DAK - Everything but the 2 rides in Pandora. You can ride them all in about an hour including walking but you have to skip Pandora. Note that Safari opens with the regular park, not EMH so come back to that one.
Pandora ride lines peak before noon then steadily decline was our experience. Just know you will be waiting for those 2 however long that might be. We did that and we were in our car on the way back to the resort pool by 3 but did not see any shows (walk back to the car dang near killed us - it was HOT!).
Used the regular line for everything first go through, but don't forget single rider lines! TT3, RotR, SR and RAT were walk-ons in the single rider line. DS had good luck in the RnRC single rider line but we've gotten stuck in a longer than standby line on that one.
Afternoon break is my new must-do. We always go in August and yes, it is hot. We saved money by planning on eating lunch in the room (and breakfast before we head to the park) when the heat got bad and we started to drag. Pool was open most days but we also waited out a thunderstorm in the room one day - better than getting soaked in the park.
Don't forget night EMH either. Monday in EPCOT, Wednesday in MK - took advantage of both.
Fresh Baked just did a WDW trip and tested some RD standby strategies if you want to look it up on YouTube - pretty similar to what we did honestly.