?Disneyland strategy WITHOUT ILL

[Cindylieu]

I am just beginning my planning strategy for our May 15-21, 2022 trip. (FINALLY was able to get DL to refund and replace my expired-due-to-pandemic 2020 tickets). The crowd calendars say that park days for 16-19 are light to moderate crowds. We might fight with Grad Night for one of our days there, but we are mostly going to be able to avoid Grad Night by choosing DL on those days.

Of course this time will be vastly different for me. I was never there with Max Pass (though I used the WDW system back in 2018). I have purchased Genie+ for all 4 days (4-day non-park-hopper for 3 adults). I am putting the brakes on buying ILL for those most popular rides. (another $60 per day just pushed me over the edge).

My current thoughts:
Ride of the Resistance: skip it altogether (sadness) since it is unreliable and I don't want to waste 2hrs in line for it to break down and have no recourse.
Web Slinger and Radiator Springs: aim for stand-by-lines early on in the 2 DCA days.

Our strategy in years past: We usually aim to do 1/2 of the park per day with the opposite side of the parks done at the end of the day if we have extra time. Example: Head to Adventureland first thing and use FastPasses for those "left side" rides. Once we get to Fantasyland, we look at the big rides on that side of the park and get FP if able. Re-ride the left side rides a second or third time if able. The next day in the same park, do the same but for the right-side lands. Our goal is a busy but non-hectic day with a plan to get to every ride at least once, bonus if we get a second or third ride.

NOW: since we can't get second LL passes for the same rides, we need a new strategy to maximize the rides that NEED LL, and do standby lines in those golden hours at the start of the day. Since we are resistant to paying for ILL, what rides should we just give up on?

Does the DIS have great strategies for managing the ILL rides in the standby line? How about the regular LL rides? What ones are "must-get" LL? Which rides are not as important to have LL for?

Thanks for helping me plan my trip! (I LOVE THE PLANNING!!)

 

[chezcurrie]

Yay, trip planning! I think you can still use your former FP strategy with Genie+. The value you assign it doesn’t need to be number of rides ridden but rather the ease of the day. If re-rides are important then that is the value to you.

We did something similar on our recent trip (Dec 13-17) - most people were booking it to RotR in the am. We chose to zig when they zagged and went to Smuggler Runs and rode it twice with no wait, we then focused on all the “left side of the park” rides, using Genie+ for some (Indiana) and not others (Big Thunder, short wait). You could do similar and then book your LL later in the afternoon or evening, or strategicalily use them for rides you just don’t want to wait for or want to re-ride right away when the line is getting longer (assuming the return times are good). Then re-ride with LL at your leisure that evening. And who knows, maybe they will change the no re-ride option. A girl can hope.

I realize this is not what you asked, so I’ll cut to the chase - for ILL I am probably in the minority in that it is worth it for rides that break down, such as RoTR and Racers. The reasoning is *if* it shuts down while your are using your LL you are going to get a return pass. So I would standby WebSlingers when the line is tolerable, and do single rider for Racers. genie+ options are not as plentiful at DCA so try and standby as much as you can when rides are low and then book those LL for re-rides.

caveat: We did pay $20pp for Rise on our trip (for a family of 5) but we justified it by not doing genie+ every day. We like a down day and split up one day so I was mostly in Fantasyland where LL is moot. With 3 adults your tolerance for waiting could be greater, and with 4park days I think you’ll have plenty of time to do everything you want even with a longer standby wait here and there. That said, maybe “budget” the $60 just in case lines are crazy and you feel like you really want to ride Rise. It is a fantastic ride.

 

[gelatoni fan]

If you already bought Genie+, it may be too late but I agree with the previous poster that if you have multiple days in the park, it may be better to grab ILL for Rise instead of Genie+ for that day. So on your Rise day, you also do shows and attractions without Lighting Lane. If you've never been on Rise before, I think it's worth doing whatever you need to get on the ride.

You can rope drop Web Slingers and do single rider for Racers so I think ILL is not necessary for those.

 

[RedVines2001]

I agree with everyone else. I think the ILL for Rise is worth it. You don’t need it for Webslingers and RSR. I would rope drop for those. You can also rope drop and do single rider for RSR and prob get on more than once. Rise is really worth it and I don’t think you should skip it.

However If you’re dead set on not getting ILL I would suggest trying to get on Rise at night right before the ride shuts down. Keep in mind it shuts down before the park does. When I was there it was around 830 pm. Hope this helps.

 

[gatorfreud]

With 4 days and Genie I think you will be fine to hit everything, including waiting for Rise one of the days, like midday when everything is crowded... you can easily do all of the Genie DCA stuff on one day. We were just there and it was pretty easy to get LL for everything... Indy went fastest, as did Guardians. But still easy to get. Focus mornings on non-LL stuff, and if you can. late nights were good too. If you have not ridden Rise at all, I highly recommend it! I would wait for it, just not at a prime time for other rides.. like get in line around 12ish...

 

[DC in DC]

Just posted my trip report; we did not want to shell out for ILL, in which case your options are RD, wait, or skip. I thought Rise was amazing and definitely worth doing RD for. It was a must do for us!
Personally, I was less into RSR and WS- they were cool, but pretty short and we are not into Cars or Spider-Man.
Our ability to wait wanes as the day goon, so personally I think Genie+ is worth it for the 12 rides (but you might not get to do all of them unless you are really good at maximizing LL and are at the park all day!).

 

[EmJ]

For those recommending ILL for Rise, how much of the queue do you miss? I am traveling with two Star Wars obsessives, and while I’m willing to shell out the $60, they aren’t willing to miss anything of importance, even if it’s just in the line.

 

[Pacific Northwest]

My son and I did ROTR (for the very first time) twice in a row standby at the end of the night last night (12/29). We saw standby drop to about an hour (probably because it was raining) and hopped in line. Took 45 to finish the ride. We jumped back in standby 4 min before it closed for the night for a re-ride.

 

[dizneedoll]

For those recommending ILL for Rise, how much of the queue do you miss? I am traveling with two Star Wars obsessives, and while I’m willing to shell out the $60, they aren’t willing to miss anything of importance, even if it’s just in the line.

You won't miss any of the good preshow stuff in the queue. It just skips the outdoor line and most of caves which are kind of boring and not important.

 

[Cindylieu]

My son and I did ROTR (for the very first time) twice in a row standby at the end of the night last night (12/29). We saw standby drop to about an hour (probably because it was raining) and hopped in line. Took 45 to finish the ride. We jumped back in standby 4 min before it closed for the night for a re-ride.

Great to know!
I'll add this to my evening plan... to explore StarWars at night and consider hopping in RotR line if the wait time seems light. Are there tricks to telling whether that line is short (besides trusting Disney's wait time numbers)?

 

[Pacific Northwest]

Great to know!
I'll add this to my evening plan... to explore StarWars at night and consider hopping in RotR line if the wait time seems light. Are there tricks to telling whether that line is short (besides trusting Disney's wait time numbers)?

Not an expert by any means, but the times we jumped in line, there was no "extra" queue space being used. By extra, I mean the queue that leaves the built in waiting areas and ropes are set up for overflow.

 

[Mommy2cody]

Light to moderate crowds and multiple days....don't waste your money on Genie+. May is busy but schools are mostly still in. I would just do the LL for Rise. Everything else should be doable without it.