Here Now & Just Back - A Place To Share Your Recent Experiences

[cjlong88]

This is a really smart strategy! Am I right that you had a park pass for Epcot, but starting at 7, got a LL for HS (guessing Slinky Dog) and then stacked at HS every two hours after Epcot park opening? Sounds like a fantastic day!

Correct, except that my 120-minute window started at HS’s opening time since I booked Slinky as my first attraction. It’s our third time using this strategy and I honestly don’t know a better way to experience HS for us. We can get all the heavy hitters done in 4-5 hours with no waits.

 

[moorish]

Correct, except that my 120-minute window started at HS’s opening time since I booked Slinky as my first attraction. It’s our third time using this strategy and I honestly don’t know a better way to experience HS for us. We can get all the heavy hitters done in 4-5 hours with no waits.

We’re planning one of our days in much the same way. Happy to hear it’s working well for you!

 

[Day-al]

Today is Epcot / HS. I’ve been stacking LL’s for HS since this morning. We rode Remy during ETPE. We got to IG around 8:55 am. Waited about 5-10 minutes before they opened the ride. It was a walk-on. Then rode Soarin’, LwtL, and Nemo…all walk-ons. Made our way from Mexico through Germany today. Will do the other half of WS tomorrow. Relaxing at the hotel before we head back out later this afternoon

So far we have RotR, MMRR, MFSR, RnRC, and SDD LL’s booked for this evening at HS. Next window is in 4 minutes. TSM and ToT still show availability. Should be a good evening.

Having an amazing time so far!

ETA: Just snagged one of the last ToT LL’s!

You’re going to have a blast tonight! I’m slightly jealous lol

 

[jillinastoria]

Correct, except that my 120-minute window started at HS’s opening time since I booked Slinky as my first attraction. It’s our third time using this strategy and I honestly don’t know a better way to experience HS for us. We can get all the heavy hitters done in 4-5 hours with no waits.

That's great and very inspiring, thank you for sharing!

 

[elgerber]

Correct, except that my 120-minute window started at HS’s opening time since I booked Slinky as my first attraction. It’s our third time using this strategy and I honestly don’t know a better way to experience HS for us. We can get all the heavy hitters done in 4-5 hours with no waits.

Can you share the order in which you booked your LL rides?

 

[cjlong88]

Can you share the order in which you booked your LL rides?

Slinky, Millennium Falcon, Rock n Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror.

Rise and Mickey & Minnie were purchased at 7am

 

[Sarahslay]

This CM is uninformed clearly on the latest updates. I mean, when you opened the app at Epcot you would have SEEN this CM was mistaken. Unfortunately just shows you can't really trust what they said and need to do your own research

Yeah, unfortunately I don't get there for another week so I can't see until then, and their list of what is included when I look still doesn't include anything that is LL$$. They have't been updating their list on their website at all, and everywhere I look is different info, with everything changing recently it's hard to get accurate news from folks. Since someone who went a month ago had a different experience to someone who just came back, it's a bit tough. Thankfully I would have seen it, but I'm glad I know now before I go and don't drop some money on it early in the morning before we arrive so we can ride it. Only plan to do it once, just want to say we did it lol (but I'd rather not shell out money when I don't have to)

 

[SwanVT2]

We just got back from an 8 night stay (6 park days) at SSR. The weather was absolutely amazing! With the exception of about 2 hours of rain, we had highs of 75-80 degrees and lows of 55-60 degrees. The SSR refurb was well done and the rooms look great. The pull down beds made a huge difference in sleeping comfort for our party.

We bought Genie+ for our two HS & MK days. We also bought all ILL rides each day. HS we slept in both days and stacked. We got to the HS around 1:30pm and had 5 LL rides waiting including the paid ones. We were pretty much able to ride everything we wanted with minimal waiting. MK days we got there early & used EE to get a few of the smaller rides while paying for 7DMT and Space Mountain. We then basically grabbed rides throughout the day that had close return times. We used Genie+ for 8 rides one day and 10 the other. We also stayed for Deluxe hours at MK and was able to ride Space Mountain several times in a row.

Our Epcot and AK days we paid for the ILL rides but did not pay for Genie+. There just isn't enough to do at those parks to make it worth it....especially since we had deluxe hours at EP. With a group of 8, Genie+ added a pretty big expense compared to previous trips. But it saved us soooo much time that we felt we got decent value out of it. We will almost definitely buy it again next trip.

Crowd-wise we thought it was busy. We knew MLK weekend would add to the crowds towards the end of the trip. But the beginning of the trip was pretty busy too...probably attributed to running events.

Mask compliance was excellent IMO. For the few that didn't have them on indoors, castmembers were there to remind them. I think 100% of people I saw whom needed to be reminded just honestly forgot versus ignoring the rules which was good to see.

Pretty much all cast member we interacted were great! Everyone seemed in great spirits and had that Disney cast member happiness I've become accustom too. Most guests seemed in good moods too. There have been so many reports of fighting guests or angry interaction I was happy to not see any of them.

All in all it was an amazing trip. It was definitely not one of our cheapest trips we've had...but it was one of the best. After all the recent threads of people who have "lost the magic", this trip confirmed that I am luckily not in that camp.

I thought you had to get genie to get the ILL? How do you purchase it separately? Thanks!

 

[tjmw2727]

Yeah, unfortunately I don't get there for another week so I can't see until then, and their list of what is included when I look still doesn't include anything that is LL$$. They have't been updating their list on their website at all, and everywhere I look is different info, with everything changing recently it's hard to get accurate news from folks. Since someone who went a month ago had a different experience to someone who just came back, it's a bit tough. Thankfully I would have seen it, but I'm glad I know now before I go and don't drop some money on it early in the morning before we arrive so we can ride it. Only plan to do it once, just want to say we did it lol (but I'd rather not shell out money when I don't have to)

DAS is an option for any / every attraction with a standby line and since there are no current attractions without a standby line right now that means every attraction. We used it on I$LL rides including Rise and 7DMT, we also used it on Remy in conjunction with our boarding group two weeks ago. You're getting the Advance Selection options (no I$LL allowed) with the day of DAS selections available in MDE.

ie - Don't worry you can use your DAS on Remy now that it has a traditional standby line.

 

[cindianne320]

I thought you had to get genie to get the ILL? How do you purchase it separately? Thanks!

Anyone can purchase a combination. ILLs only, Genie + only, or both.

 

[Sarahslay]

DAS is an option for any / every attraction with a standby line and since there are no current attractions without a standby line right now that means every attraction. We used it on I$LL rides including Rise and 7DMT, we also used it on Remy in conjunction with our boarding group two weeks ago. You're getting the Advance Selection options (no I$LL allowed) with the day of DAS selections available in MDE.

ie - Don't worry you can use your DAS on Remy now that it has a traditional standby line.

Thank you for the info, so much has changed since the last time I used DAS! Good to know I can use it for Rise as well, I’ve ridden it a bunch (never with DAS since you couldn’t before), but my dad never has so that will be nice. I didn’t have to use DAS on my August solo trip because there were literally no waits, I think I waited once for 15 minutes, it’s a whole new world (and I hate relearning, but it’ll come to me lol)

 

[cjlong88]

You’re going to have a blast tonight! I’m slightly jealous lol

We are having SO MUCH FUN! A little walking back and forth, but a small price to pay for skipping all these lines.

update: snagged a last minute TSM LL with some refreshing while walking between attractions. Might not make it if ToT LL doesn’t move quick enough, but no big deal.

ETA: we made our TSM LL and are celebrating with cocktails at Oga’s after park close!

 

[TheMick424]

Today is Epcot / HS. I’ve been stacking LL’s for HS since this morning. We rode Remy during ETPE. We got to IG around 8:55 am. Waited about 5-10 minutes before they opened the ride. It was a walk-on. Then rode Soarin’, LwtL, and Nemo…all walk-ons. Made our way from Mexico through Germany today. Will do the other half of WS tomorrow. Relaxing at the hotel before we head back out later this afternoon

So far we have RotR, MMRR, MFSR, RnRC, and SDD LL’s booked for this evening at HS. Next window is in 4 minutes. TSM and ToT still show availability. Should be a good evening.

Having an amazing time so far!

ETA: Just snagged one of the last ToT LL’s!

Do you think this strategy would work with an AK morning?

 

[cjlong88]

Do you think this strategy would work with an AK morning?

Yes!

 

[Disneyhanna]

Had a great day in MK today. Got downpoured on around 8:15 waiting for Fantasyland early entry. That was the worst of the rain, and it was pretty much done before lunch. Definitely kept the crowds at bay until the afternoon.

Rope dropped PPF and got 9:00 Genie+ for Big Thunder which did not open for a few hours so we got an anytime pass around 9:30. That helped our day a lot. Could have done 7DMT around 30min during early entry but it wasn’t a priority for us. Waited a bit on space mountain for the initial crowds to pass and waited 25min in mid-morning. Managed to ride literally every other ride in the park using Genie+ but skipped the speedway and astro orbiter. Did pirates, HM, dumbo twice by riding during first half day with short waits and using genie+ later. Did carousel twice as well. Watched philharmagic and carousel of progress. Spent about 90min at LTT for lunch and waited 30min in hub for fireworks. Left around 9:30 before park close.

Genie+ was great for MK and we did a lot of refreshing in the later afternoon and evening. Never really did any stacking as we preferred to refresh for a time within an hour. Have to be quick to confirm as they do not “hold” the time you see. Overall glad this weather was on our MK day as the crowds were very moderate, which surprised us for the holiday weekend.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Enchanted sucks I’ve been trying so hard to get into since we last went I said maybe it’s just me that I don’t like change but man I just can’t get into it….Happily ever was so so so perfect

 

[Makmak]

Enchanted sucks I’ve been trying so hard to get into since we last went I said maybe it’s just me that I don’t like change but man I just can’t get into it….Happily ever was so so so perfect

It’s not just you. I have been reading other people saying the same and we just saw it last night for the first time and I was thinking maybe it was just people reacting to change but it definitely lacked the emotional elements of the previous show for us as well.

 

[WEDWDW]

Just a note on the new Mears Connect service.

We used it for the first time yesterday and found it to be very efficient.

We walked right up,they scanned our QR Code and immediately put us on a Bus and about 5 minutes later off we went.

We stopped at AoA,Pop Century,All-Star Music and finally our Resort,All-Star Movies.

Having said that,it was a very "sterile" experience-no welcome video,etc.

No longer can we say "The Vacation "feel" starts as soon as we board the bus to our Resort!".

Thanks Disney!

We will definitely be giving the "Train themed" bus service a try when it debuts.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Just a note on the new Mears Connect service.

We used it for the first time yesterday and found it to be very efficient.

We walked right up,they scanned our QR Code and immediately put us on a Bus and about 5 minutes later off we went.

Did they remove the two check in stations and separate resort lines that were used for the Magical Express? The check in line for ME had gotten crazy long and it would be nice to see that it is gone.

 

[hsmamato2]

Correct, except that my 120-minute window started at HS’s opening time since I booked Slinky as my first attraction. It’s our third time using this strategy and I honestly don’t know a better way to experience HS for us. We can get all the heavy hitters done in 4-5 hours with no waits.

what do you suggest booking first,second etc? I like this plan too