BLT 10/18 - 23

[thptrek]

Pre Trip Planning

So here is our plan for our trip. With Genie+ and LL$ dropping on the 19th we are ready for anything. We are planning to use Genie+ and LL$ as much as possible so we will report back on our results.

• We arrive on the afternoon of the 18th. Staying at our home resort BLT. We have ADR at CG for dinner. After watching Enchantment from CG, we plan to hop over to EPCOT to catch Harmonius at 945pm and then stay since this is Extended Hours night.
• Oct 19 AK - Grab a LL$ for FOP late morning. Dinner is at Tiffins.
• Oct 20 MK - This is where the fun of Genie+ should begin. We hope to stack ride reservations to keep our waits down. We have dinner Citricos. After dinner will catch Enchantment and then do Extended Hours
• Oct 21 - HS - We are huge Star Wars fans so will spend most of our day in Batuu. We have Lunch at Brown derby and then OGAs at 845pm. Will take a lot of pics leaving the park with our lightsabers
• Oct 22 - Wildcard. Depending on how the week goes we may go back to MK or HS. Hope to buy Boo Bash tickets during the week if available. Hearing that some may be available on site.

We are a group of 4 adults that are Disney veterans so we are ready to pivot on our plans depending on how things go.

 

[betslinc]

Can't wait to hear updates, we arrive the 21st. So curious how genie+ and the LLs work. I've heard it is quite busy there now so the now options work out well.

 

[Leight19]

Pre Trip Planning

So here is our plan for our trip. With Genie+ and LL$ dropping on the 19th we are ready for anything. We are planning to use Genie+ and LL$ as much as possible so we will report back on our results.

• We arrive on the afternoon of the 18th. Staying at our home resort BLT. We have ADR at CG for dinner. After watching Enchantment from CG, we plan to hop over to EPCOT to catch Harmonius at 945pm and then stay since this is Extended Hours night.
• Oct 19 AK - Grab a LL$ for FOP late morning. Dinner is at Tiffins.
• Oct 20 MK - This is where the fun of Genie+ should begin. We hope to stack ride reservations to keep our waits down. We have dinner Citricos. After dinner will catch Enchantment and then do Extended Hours
• Oct 21 - HS - We are huge Star Wars fans so will spend most of our day in Batuu. We have Lunch at Brown derby and then OGAs at 845pm. Will take a lot of pics leaving the park with our lightsabers
• Oct 22 - Wildcard. Depending on how the week goes we may go back to MK or HS. Hope to buy Boo Bash tickets during the week if available. Hearing that some may be available on site.

We are a group of 4 adults that are Disney veterans so we are ready to pivot on our plans depending on how things go.

I don’t like that your paying for the features cause I don’t want to encourage Disney to continue the added cost system but I’ll give you a pass this time since it’s experimental to see how it works (for science!). Seriously though glad you are sharing your experiences and hope you have amazing time.

 

[RoseGold]

Interesting, excited for extended hours for Epct on 10/18 and MK 10/20. That's how we plan to get our Frozen and 7D in. Very few reports from the late night hours. With only deluxe guests, you might have the park to yourselves! Let me know if you peep the Frozen wait during extended hours!

 

[CWTC]

Interesting, excited for extended hours for Epct on 10/18 and MK 10/20. That's how we plan to get our Frozen and 7D in. Very few reports from the late night hours. With only deluxe guests, you might have the park to yourselves! Let me know if you peep the Frozen wait during extended hours!

We were at EPCOT extended hours last night - the CMs did an excellent job of scanning bands and not allowing people into the queues who were not eligible. That said, a lot of people got into the Frozen line just prior to close and the wait was over 45 minutes at 10 pm. We skipped it: rode in Mexico to allow day guests to get cleared out, rode TT, and left the park around 11pm. We could have done frozen but that ride is meh for us. We did Soarin and Spaceship earth earlier in the day so didn’t try but wait times looked super short.

 

[newarknut]

Sounds like a great plan! Enjoy!!

 

[thptrek]

Monday, Oct 18 - Arrive, Cali Grill dinner and late night Epcot

We arrived at BLT around 2pm and stored our luggage with bell captain. We then went to Poly for some drinks and then to GF to have drinks at Enchanted Rose. We got to Poly around 230pm and was told that we probably wouldn't get called for Sams until around 6pm. Our room was ready around 4 so we headed back to BLT.

That night we had dinner at Cali Grill. It was very nice and the 50th pre Fixe menu was good. The Duck pizza is a full pizza. The sushi was excellent. The bisque was a little bland. For dinner we really liked the grouper, the copping and the pork tenderloin. For dessert the standout was the Five Magical bites. We watched Enchantment fireworks from the deck and it was beautiful. Cali Grill is expensive but worth the $ if you want to do it.


After dinner we headed to Epcot to take advantage of extra evening hours. We got there during Harmonius so we missed that. We did Frozen, Test track, Mission Space and Soarin. Once the Harmonius crowd left the park was empty. I mean like we did Soarin as the only ones in the theatre empty. Frozen was 20 minutes. We took lots of pics and then slowly made our way back to the monorail to head home to BLT. It was a great first day.

Tomorrow, Genie+ start and we head to AK. Went to bed with fingers crossed that it will not be a mess. Spoiler: we did have issues but did not ruin our day.

 

[Dizzydizney]

Tomorrow, Genie+ start and we head to AK. Went to bed with fingers crossed that it will not be a mess. Spoiler: we did have issues but did not ruin our day

Impatiently awaiting your next installment.

 

[RoseGold]

We went to extended Epcot and MK hours. Everything we tried was walk on, except 7D, maybe 20 minutes. Remy was closed, boo.

My child decided she was opposed to frozen because of the governance of arendale, so we thankfully skipped frozen for political reasons. We rode soarin 3 times. They made us move seats. We are below height, so weren’t trying to ride space mountain or test track. We walked on jungle cruise, Peter Pan, haunted mansion, EMH was awesome.

 

[thptrek]

Tuesday,October 19th - Animal Kingdom and Genie+ launches

We woke up early and upgraded to the new Genie App. We tried to buy our Genie+ and our LL$ for FOP but the app said we didn't have park tickets. We just headed to AK and after we got through the turnstiles, it all started working. We bought Geneir+ and our LL$ for FOP. I stopped at Guest Relations to explain what happened and showed them some screen shots. They were very knowledgeable and a senior IT person there said they never saw that before. They put in a ticket and spoiler alert, it worked for us the rest fo the trip.

At AK the park was pretty open all day except for FOP. We got a LL for Navi, rode it and then did our LL$ for FOP. Right after that we got a LL for Safari ride in about one hour. We made our way over to Safari and did Safari. The wait for Everest was about 10 minutes (actual, posted was 30) so we did that too before having lunch.

We tried several times to see KiteTails but at the start of every performance they made a cancellation announcement. That was annoying.

We did Everest again and then waited about 30 mins for FOP. It was mid afternoon so we went to Dawali Bar for a drink(s) and listened to the music from Harambe.

Dinner was at Tiffins and it was fantastic. We think it is one of the better restaurants in any of the parks. Here is the special 50th anniversary dessert.


We left the park after dinner, taking a nice stroll through an empty AK.

We probably didn't need Genie+ for the day as the park was so empty. It did give us an idea of how to use it so we did have experience for tomorrow at MK. Buying LL$ for FOP was totally worth it. It saved us about 50 minutes in the mid-morning. Instead of standing in line we really enjoyed walking around AK as we made our way to Safari and other did other things.

 

[CBMom01]

We went to extended Epcot and MK hours. Everything we tried was walk on, except 7D, maybe 20 minutes. Remy was closed, boo.

My child decided she was opposed to frozen because of the governance of arendale, so we thankfully skipped frozen for political reasons. We rode soarin 3 times. They made us move seats. We are below height, so weren’t trying to ride space mountain or test track. We walked on jungle cruise, Peter Pan, haunted mansion, EMH was awesome.

Skipping Frozen for political reasons is the best thing I’ve seen on these boards in years.

 

[RoseGold]

Skipping Frozen for political reasons is the best thing I’ve seen on these boards in years.

When a coup is so unjust it makes a four year old get rid of a princess dress.

 

[thptrek]

Wednesday, Oct 20 - Magic Kingdom

We did purchase Genie+ for this day and a LL$ for 7DMT. Our LL$ window was 10-11am. We also did a LL for Peter Pan for 9-10. We did Early Entry day so we walked over to the park about 815am. They let us through all the way to where Buzz Lilghtyear was.

At 830am we did Space Mountain first, then Buzz, then Haunted Mansion. Then we did our Peter Pan LL and headed to BTMRR and Splash Mtn. Most of the crowd was in line for PeterPan or 7DMT, Hence many other attractions were still walk on. We got a LL for Pirates at 11-noon and headed to Jungle Cruise. It was a 30 min wait so after that we did our LL for Pirates. We got a LL for Haunted Mansion since the first time we did it we did standby.

We had a nice lunch and then did our HM. By this time we decided to hit up a lot of the Photopass photographers. The only rides with long lines was Jungle Cruise and 7DMT. We had an early dinner reservation at Citrico's so we left the park early. We did so much and tonight was Extended Night hours at MK too.

Citrico's was excellent. The new decor is open and beautiful. Menu and service just grand.

Our dinner reservation was at 5:10pm and we finished around 7:30. That gave us time to catch the monorail back to MK for Enchantment. We just gently maneuvered ourselves down Main Street all the way to the Hub area for the fireworks. Yes it was crowded but not crazy crowded. Everyone was in a good mood. Encchantment was wonderful. I will always be a Wishes person but this is pretty darn good.





MK was open from 9-11pm for deluxe resorts guests so we made our way from the Hub to Space Mountain. CMs were checking magic bands to verify that you were a resort guest. Everything was a walk on except PP and 7DMT. Those were about 15-20 mins. We did Pirates, HM, BTMRR, Monsters, and Peoplemover. Jungle Cruise was not operating. The late night hours for hotel guests is a really good deal and worth it! We went to the Hub which was empty and took a lot of pics to end our glorious day.


Getting LL$ for 7DMT was a good call we saved at least 45 minutes in the morning. Genie+ was fine as we were able to stack a total of about 4 attractions while using it.

 

[Dizzydizney]

Thanks for the update. For our purposes I don’t think we will be needing Genie or LL. We’ve become rope drop people (just the two of us most trips) and now with the 30 minutes extra in the morning with no more free FP it works for us (we were able to take advantage of early morning last month but didn’t do the extra magic nights...and Genie wasn’t available yet). We usually do a split stay so we walk to MK early and do the busy rides first depending on the wait, will do some slower rides and then go back for swimming and lunch. Now with the late nights, we can go back for the popular rides. We can walk to Hollywood and Epcot from our next resort (or skyliner depending) so early entry works for us. We drive to AK early and are in early and are usually on FOP pretty quickly. We go often enough and have been on everything so it’s no big deal for us if we skip something.
The only exception would be when Tron opens. And maybe Guardians.
I sure hope Tables in Wonderland returns for 2022. Glad to hear Citicos was good.

 

[thptrek]

Thursday, Oct 21 - Hollywood Studios

Right at 7am I purchased LL$ for ROTR. I also added Genie+ and got a LL for Smuggler's Run. We got to the park to make early entry. During early entry we did RNR and TT. We then strolled over to Star Tours and then into Batuu. It was time for Smuggler's and then right after that we did ROTR. It was our first time and it is the greatest ride in history. We did all the preshows and everything in the ride was working perfectly. It was quite the experience. We waited about 5 minutes for the first pre-show. The standby line was listed at 100 minutes so the LL$ saved us a lot of time.

We tried to make a LL for Slinky Dog but it was sold out for the day. This was the first time we were disappointed with Genie+. I should have made Slinky Dog right at 7am but I didn't know it was selling out right in the first 5 minutes every day. Live and learn. So we made a LL for TSM. We did Frozen Sing Along while waiting and then did TSM.

We then decided to hang out a bit in Batuu and take some pics. It was a lot of fun. We had an early 4:00 dinner at Brown Derby. We booked this early cause we wanted to schedule a break during the afternoon as we have a 8:45pm at Oga's. Brown Derby was excellent. It was a bit hot and humid and relaxing for a bit was very refreshing.

After dinner we got into line for Runaway Railroad. It was about 45 minute line and it moved fast. It is a nice ride but none of us was wowed by us. It just seems chaotic without purpose.

We went back to Batuu and went to Oga's for our reservation. It was crowded and we were put at a standing table. It was still fun but having one of the booths adds a lot more to the fun. We had a couple of drinks and then took more pictures while leaving the park. It was empty and we had done this before so we took a lot of pics with our lightsaber. There were a lot of people dressed in Star Wars/Batuu apparel around which made it even more fun.

It was a great day as we love Batuu and ROTR is just amazing. BUY the LL$!! For the rest of the day, Genie+ was marginal. This was the issue in being at the parks the first days of Genie+. Nobody really had a plan yet on how to optimize it. Also, we were at the Parks during a period of low attendance.

 

[Dizzydizney]

Glad you enjoyed ROTR and Batuu. We were so unimpressed with ROTR the first time we went on.....but after speaking with others over the next few months, we realized it must have been malfunctioning....so gave it another chance last trip. Really enjoyed it....it was nothing like our first time. Agree Minnies Railroad is a once and done. No rhyme or reason.
That is disappointing about slinky dog though with LL.
Thanks for all the info. Very helpful.

 

[thptrek]

Friday, Oct 22nd - Magic Kingdom and Halloween Bash Party

This was a pretty relaxing day for us. We did Magic Kingdom but really focused on just walking around, taking pictures and doing some things we normally don't do. We rode the steamboat, did COP, and stuff like that. We did fit in SM, Splash, and BTMRR. We had lunch at Skipper's Canteen and really like that place. Food is very good and atmosphere is great. It was just fun to sit on a bench near the castle and just take it all in and relax. After lunch we went to Grand Floridian and had some drinks at Enchanted Rose.

That evening we did the Halloween Bash Party. It was very good. Crowds felt pretty low. The candy stations were spread out and we filled up our bags with more candy than we actually could eat. The special photo ops were fun. There was a 5-10 minute wait for some but no big deal. Lots of people were in costume and that made it more fun. The Party is $$$ but we enjoyed it. Would we do it again, probably not but once is fine.

This ended our really great trip. Crowds were low and Genie+ did not mess us up with its launch. Till next time.

 

[DaisyNY]

Great report...thanks for sharing!