Back Again Finally

[Grandmaof2]

We have reservations at Animal Kingdom Lodge for July 10-16 and I see many changes have happened since I have posted here. I know you all have gave and received many tips. Pease tell me what you think was the best tip someone gave you. Glad to be back! Thanks!

 

[snappy]

I guess I have several.

Read through some of the Genie plus thread tips. It is good to play with the ap and get to know where to find where to set the park you are going to be at and which ride you want to book using the edit function. We enjoyed pool time and down time. You do have to willing to be awake by 7 am to book genie plus and individual lightning lane rides. I had my iPad open to the world clock so I was ready at 7 am to book the rides.

Be sure and check for park reservations before you buy your tickets. Make those park reservations sooner than later.

I find the ability to park hop to be very valuable.

i used a portable charger a lot in the parks. Needed it.

I kept checking the hours for the different parks. Hours were added close to the time we arrived.

The Cm’s at the guest experience umbrellas can be very helpful. The lines at some umbrellas are longer at some over others. I walked a little farther from the front of the park and found a shorter line.

Mobile ordering was really helpful. Several times we were able to get our food earlier than the return time by pushing the I’m here button.

 

[Grandmaof2]

Thanks for all the tips! Boy not like the good old days when you had paper fast passes.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Do not over plan your first trip back. Just sit back and let it sink in that Disney World survived this catastrophe. Enjoy the parks without running around and getting pissed off at people. Enjoy good food. Have a few drinks. Sit by the pool and watch people being happy while you soak your tired feet in the hot tub. Just enjoy finally being back.

 

[holden]

I think Genie + and ILL can be a little overwhelming. It took me a few days to figure out what worked best for our family. Read what you can about it before your trip.

Not sure if you drive or use Disney transportation, but we much prefer Uber/Lyft to the buses. Drivers usually come within 5 minutes or so and we get to the next park/resort quickly.

 

[Westerner]

If you haven't yet, I recommend checking out this pinned thread which will give you up-to-date info on a range of topics.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/planning-tips-for-your-disney-trip-start-here.3873895/

If you liked the paper fastpasses you may find it helpful to think of Genie+ as an electronic version of it. Instead of going to a physical machine, you have access to all the FP virtual machines via your phone. I found it helpful to let DD20 book some of them for me, she's on the phone more than I am.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

Go with the flow and be kind to CMs. They, and you, are the real source of the magic.

It is possible to have a lovely trip without Genie+ or LLs. We woke up each morning and had a lazy late breakfast/brunch. Enjoyed the resort, pools, shopping. Ate dinner around 5pm, then headed to a park for the first time around 6:30-7pm each day. The wait times are usually exaggerated, and we had very minimal waits for most rides. The fireworks at both MK and Epcot are worth watching at least once. Take advantage of any deluxe extra evening hours offered - they are definitely worth staying up late for. (And sleeping in the next day!) Hopefully Disney doesn’t extend regular park hours, I wasn’t very happy at first with MK closing at 11pm most nights this month (so deluxe hours were 11-1am) but honestly by 10pm the park was already clearing out. We did all the rides we wanted to with this “strategy” and didn’t feel exhausted and in need of another vacation after this trip ended.