Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[angelinaxox]

Thank you!

 

[Isabelle12345]

We had great success using genie+ last week!

MK, early entry 8:30
We were a group of 14 between 5-68 years old, so some slow walkers and lots of bathroom breaks!

We made it to the park around 8:10, took pictures in front of the castle and were in line on the Tomorrowland bridge around 8:22; rope dropped a few minutes before 8:30

Walked on Buzz (8:30) Dumbo (8:42), Barnstormer (8:50), Mermaid (9:00), Small World (9:20) and Mickey’s Philarmagic (9:40)

9:55 - ILL 9:15-10:15 SDMT (booked at 7)

10:30 - LL 10:15-11:15 Splash (booked at 9)

11:15 - LL 11:20-12:20 Meet Mickey and Minnie (booked around 10:30) - for this one we had a gap of 30 minutes between the 12 and 2 and we explained to the CMs at the front, and they let us all in at the same time

Lunch at pecos bills
Watched the parade from the outside seating area in Pecos Bills

12:25 - LL 12:00-13:00 Pirates (booked at 11:45)
12:30-13:30 booked LL Magic carpets x2 (booked 5 minutes before when we saw it was down - turned to anytime LL, booked another one right after so we had anytime LL x 2)
12:45 used anytime LL for big thunder

1:30 Went to resort for a break, pool time and dinner in the room from Capt’n Cook
Stacked some LL for the evening (had to wait sometimes to get better times but never had to refresh to get those!)

5:45 made it back to the park

5:55 - LL 5:30-6:30 Peter Pan (booked around 12:30)
6:05 Carousel
6:20 - LL 5:45-6:45 Meet Tiana and Rapunzel (booked around 16:30)
6:45 - used anytime LL for Pooh
7:05 - LL 7:00-8:00 Speedway
Wanted to do people mover but it was down; stopped for some Photopass pics
7:30 - LL 7:10-8:10 Space for 11 and 7:45-8:45 meet Cinderella and Elena for 3 (booked around 14:30)

Grabbed a spot in the hub for the fireworks, ice cream break

We could have booked Dumbo, Barnstomer, Mermaid and small world with immediate return times between 7:30-9:00 but we had already done those standby in the morning Early Entry with no waits and wanted to have a good spot since there were lots of first timers

9:20 fireworks

9:50 - LL 9:15-10:00 Buzz

We had extra evening hours so went to teacups (walk on), and repeated some of the kids favorites: barnstomer (walk on), Ariel (walk on), big thunder (20 min wait) and pirates (walk on)

Took pics in front of the castle and left around 11:45, exhausted but happy!

It was an amazing day! We never could have done so much if it wasn’t for genie so I have to say, even though it sucks to pay for it, I think you can use it to your advantage!

 

[daisylovesdisney]

5:55 - LL 5:30-6:30 Peter Pan (booked around 12:30)
6:05 Carousel
6:20 - LL 5:45-6:45 Meet Tiana and Rapunzel (booked around 16:30)

Hi, we're going in a couple of weeks and have never used the new Genie+ system before. Is the reason you could have a LL for both 5:30-6:30p and 5:45-6:45p because they were booked so many hours apart? I'm trying to figure out all the rules.

Thanks!

 

[M&E]

We had great success using genie+ last week!

MK, early entry 8:30
We were a group of 14 between 5-68 years old, so some slow walkers and lots of bathroom breaks!

We made it to the park around 8:10, took pictures in front of the castle and were in line on the Tomorrowland bridge around 8:22; rope dropped a few minutes before 8:30

Walked on Buzz (8:30) Dumbo (8:42), Barnstormer (8:50), Mermaid (9:00), Small World (9:20) and Mickey’s Philarmagic (9:40)

9:55 - ILL 9:15-10:15 SDMT (booked at 7)

10:30 - LL 10:15-11:15 Splash (booked at 9)

11:15 - LL 11:20-12:20 Meet Mickey and Minnie (booked around 10:30) - for this one we had a gap of 30 minutes between the 12 and 2 and we explained to the CMs at the front, and they let us all in at the same time

Lunch at pecos bills
Watched the parade from the outside seating area in Pecos Bills

12:25 - LL 12:00-13:00 Pirates (booked at 11:45)
12:30-13:30 booked LL Magic carpets x2 (booked 5 minutes before when we saw it was down - turned to anytime LL, booked another one right after so we had anytime LL x 2)
12:45 used anytime LL for big thunder

1:30 Went to resort for a break, pool time and dinner in the room from Capt’n Cook
Stacked some LL for the evening (had to wait sometimes to get better times but never had to refresh to get those!)

5:45 made it back to the park

5:55 - LL 5:30-6:30 Peter Pan (booked around 12:30)
6:05 Carousel
6:20 - LL 5:45-6:45 Meet Tiana and Rapunzel (booked around 16:30)
6:45 - used anytime LL for Pooh
7:05 - LL 7:00-8:00 Speedway
Wanted to do people mover but it was down; stopped for some Photopass pics
7:30 - LL 7:10-8:10 Space for 11 and 7:45-8:45 meet Cinderella and Elena for 3 (booked around 14:30)

Grabbed a spot in the hub for the fireworks, ice cream break

We could have booked Dumbo, Barnstomer, Mermaid and small world with immediate return times between 7:30-9:00 but we had already done those standby in the morning Early Entry with no waits and wanted to have a good spot since there were lots of first timers

9:20 fireworks

9:50 - LL 9:15-10:00 Buzz

We had extra evening hours so went to teacups (walk on), and repeated some of the kids favorites: barnstomer (walk on), Ariel (walk on), big thunder (20 min wait) and pirates (walk on)

Took pics in front of the castle and left around 11:45, exhausted but happy!

It was an amazing day! We never could have done so much if it wasn’t for genie so I have to say, even though it sucks to pay for it, I think you can use it to your advantage!

What time did you grab a spot for the fireworks? Did you have a good spot? And, if you happened to notice, at what point did it get too crowded to grab a good spot?

 

[BlancheNeige7]

Here now and will be for the month with APs purchased years ago! We will not be using Genie+ or purchasing LL... hoping to make the most of rope-dropping headliners or hoping in line a few minutes before closing. We are staying off-site.

Wednesday, Epcot
In March Genie+ had us walking quite a bit in the park. I admit I much preferred taking our time in each area... even if it meant some queues. It felt more orderly and less chaotic for us. The heat can be exhausting! Highlights of the day...

• Got boarding group 41 for GotG at exactly 7am. Called just after 10am.
• TT at rope drop (wait time posted = 60 min, actual wait =25 minutes)
• MS (walk on, posted 15min)
• Living with the Land (8 minutes, posted 20)
• Soaring (40 mins, posted 70)
• Journey into Imagination (walk on, posted 15 min)
• Nemo (walk on, posted 15)
• Spaceship Earth (5 minutes, posted 20)

The park definitely felt much less crowded than during March Spring Break. Today was also the first day of school for many students in the state... so maybe we were lucky?

We left at 2:30 and decided to come back another evening when it is cooler for the World Showcase and Ratatouille.

 

[Isabelle12345]

What time did you grab a spot for the fireworks? Did you have a good spot? And, if you happened to notice, at what point did it get too crowded to grab a good spot?

We went to grab a spot around 8:00 but it was a large spot for 14 people and we wanted to sit and have a snack before the fireworks
Some people came in around 8:30 for the 9:20 fireworks and were still able to get decent Spots
They had us get up around 8:50 and they started packing the hub with people so I am guessing 30 minutes before would be fine if you are not a large group

 

[CarolynFH]

Hi, we're going in a couple of weeks and have never used the new Genie+ system before. Is the reason you could have a LL for both 5:30-6:30p and 5:45-6:45p because they were booked so many hours apart? I'm trying to figure out all the rules.

Thanks!

I’m not the person you quoted, but I’ll say that one of the benefits of Genie+LL over FP+ is that you can overlap return windows, as that person did. Having to wait 2 hours between booking LLs does help make that possible. Last month DH and I didn’t enter MK until 6 PM, but I started in the morning booking LLs all day, so we had 5 LLs, one ILL$, and 3 standby rides between 6 and 11. And Casey’s hot dogs, too.

 

[Isabelle12345]

Hi, we're going in a couple of weeks and have never used the new Genie+ system before. Is the reason you could have a LL for both 5:30-6:30p and 5:45-6:45p because they were booked so many hours apart? I'm trying to figure out all the rules.

Thanks!

Some LL get to later times faster than others
Usually the most popular will be in the evening times early on and the less popular can be booked for just a few minutes away

 

[KandyM]

Our trip was July 29-Aug 7. Visited each park two days with 8 day non hopper tickets. Used Genie plus on 5 of the days. It was worth it (I mean, I wish it was free) but had no trouble refreshing to get every ride we wanted using Genie +. I did not feel like I was on my phone any more than I was with Fast Pass because we were refreshers on that system too. We roped dropped most days and rode as much as we could in the first couple hours then stacked rides for late afternoon or evening so we could take a resort break in the middle of the day. Stacking allows you to be more strategic with your schedule so you can plan for less zig zagging through the parks. Rode Rise both days at HS at rope drop and were on and off the ride before 8 (with early entry starting at 8). Cosmic Rewind was the highlight of the trip. Did virtual queue and paid for ILL for it both our Epcot days and absolutely worth it. We had no motion sickness issues at all and we LOVED the ride. Did see a couple people around the exit looking the worse for wear though. I had booked us three nights in a Deluxe to get the evening extra magic hours. I guess I would say it was worth it for Magic Kingdom but not for Epcot because lines were really short at MK during that time. Honestly I would not do that again unless we were there during a cooler time of year though. The heat is a killer even with an afternoon break and by the time we got to those late hours we were really too tired to make great use of it.

 

[kgcricket]

Anyone who has had a recent trip...

Are the iconic Mickey head balloons still readily available? Kind of looks like more and more regular old round balloons are taking their place.

 

[Boardwalk III]

Looking for help with a 1/2 day DHS touring plan. Up-to-date on most things Genie+, including the news about now having to wait until times are available for afternoon stacking. However haven’t been since last November so if anyone has a good booking plan for the below list of attractions I’m all ears!

- DHS on a Thurs (Oct) between about 12pm -5pm
- 2 adults
- Top priorities are: Slinky DD, ROTR, M&M, & Toy Story Mania
- Open to using Genie+ and an ILL$ if it makes most sense
- Mainly looking for the best order to book these in, and assume I‘ll need to do so beginning right at 7 AM (unless one or more don’t quickly hit afternoon times)

Many thanks in advance to all you experts!

 

[KrazeeK120]

We were there July 31-Aug 6.

We tried to do late hours at Epcot on Aug 1, but it was a monsoon. I thought maybe I needed to consult Noah to get ark-building instructions. We (maybe not smartly) got in line for FEA at park close. We rode it, and buckets of water were falling from the sky when we came out. Of course, we were staying at Beach Club and had to walk ALLLLL the way around World Showcase. There were cast members standing at the doorway handing out towels as people were coming in. We had ponchos, so only our feet were completely soaked, but that was not a pleasant walk, especially for my 6 year old!

The next evening, we got caught in rain again (didn’t learn our lesson, I guess) at DHS. We went to the bus stop and it was MOBBED. The rest of the bus stops were…not. For whatever reason, they weren’t dispatching many busses for the Epcot resorts. It appeared some people had been waiting for a long time. I ended up requesting a Minnie Van, which arrived in 7 minutes. Expensive ride, but worth it to not be standing in a crowd of angry, wet people. I don’t know how long it took for them to get home!

Late hours at MK on 8/3 went much better.

We did early entry twice. One morning, we went to Ratatouille first. It was down. So then we went to FEA. We were in line to board (one party ahead of us going into the next boat and then we would follow in the boat after that) and it went down. We did get an anytime LL for that ride, so that was nice. But we ate up almost the entire early entry time and hadn’t done any run g except walk to broken rides.

Another day, we did early entry for MK and went to Peter Pan’s flight. It was down. My son wanted to ride small world so that’s how we utilized our Early Entry time that day.

On the way home, our flight from Atlanta to Orlando was significantly delayed, so we missed our connecting flight home. We stayed in Atlanta overnight and took a flight to O’Hare the next morning, about a 2 hour drive for us. We rented a car and drove home.

Other than that, it was a great trip!

In all honesty, we really did have fun. We ate at Liberty Tree Tavern and CRT (never done those before) and loved them both. The Runaway Railway, Ratatouille, and the Star Wars rides were new for us and were a lot of fun. (My son didn’t want to ride GotG.)

My son is already planning a return trip for next year so…we’ll see!!

 

[NJlauren]

Looking for help with a 1/2 day DHS touring plan. Up-to-date on most things Genie+, including the news about now having to wait until times are available for afternoon stacking. However haven’t been since last November so if anyone has a good booking plan for the below list of attractions I’m all ears!

- DHS on a Thurs (Oct) between about 12pm -5pm
- 2 adults
- Top priorities are: Slinky DD, ROTR, M&M, & Toy Story Mania
- Open to using Genie+ and an ILL$ if it makes most sense
- Mainly looking for the best order to book these in, and assume I‘ll need to do so beginning right at 7 AM (unless one or more don’t quickly hit afternoon times)

Many thanks in advance to all you experts!

So im not an expert but everything I read says this is going to be hard. Using genie I would book Slinky first genie, then ROTR using ILL, after 2 hours book M&M, and then I would plan on trying for toy story mania or waiting in line for that.

However this thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/e...ng-lane-please-read-posts-1-7.3856734/page-87

Will be way more helpful

 

[dizneyfiend]

We just got back from a trip and I have thoughts. I need to organize them and collect myself before sharing because I don’t want to rant. But yeah, my heart sank last week.

I’ve been a Disney fan since 1977 when I was seven and my mother somehow scratched together the money to take my cousin and I. I continually drag my family back even though we could be spending our hard earned vacation money elsewhere. When I think of the places we could’ve seen by now! But that was my choice and I don’t blame Disney in any way. The Magic and the way I feel in my soul when I’m there truly sustains me.

But the money grabs have become too much to take. Cutting down on Early Magic hours, resort guest perks in general, and charging extra just to experience the place we’ve spent hundreds per person to get into?? It’s not like those gates open for free.

Welp I’m ranting ha! I better step away for a bit.

 

[Her Dotness]

I understand, believe me.

We knew our return last fall would be really different because so much had changed.

What we weren't prepared for was how stressed and sometimes sad CMs appeared. A number of them looked exhausted.

And no matter how we tried to have a good time, it was difficult with so many changes that we felt cheapened the experience. There were magical moments, but not nearly as many as we were accustomed to. It was disappointing.

We decided to travel elsewhere this year, hoping that by next spring the magic will have been revived somewhat.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

I understand, believe me.

We knew our return last fall would be really different because so much had changed.

What we weren't prepared for was how stressed and sometimes sad CMs appeared. A number of them looked exhausted.

And no matter how we tried to have a good time, it was difficult with so many changes that we felt cheapened the experience. There were magical moments, but not nearly as many as we were accustomed to. It was disappointing.

We decided to travel elsewhere this year, hoping that by next spring the magic will have been revived somewhat.

FWIW, I think the CM morale has improved since last fall. I noticed it last year too and attributed it to more stress on the job. But I have been four times this year and other than one horrible incident with a security personnel at DS, all of the CM I have encountered have seemed to be in better moods and performing at a level more akin to a few years ago

 

[Boardwalk III]

So im not an expert but everything I read says this is going to be hard. Using genie I would book Slinky first genie, then ROTR using ILL, after 2 hours book M&M, and then I would plan on trying for toy story mania or waiting in line for that.

However this thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/e...ng-lane-please-read-posts-1-7.3856734/page-87

Will be way more helpful

Thanks so much. I meant to post this on the Genie tips forum. So appreciate your jumping in! I’ll check out the thread, and really appreciate the thoughts.

 

[Ricguz]

We just got back from a trip and I have thoughts. I need to organize them and collect myself before sharing because I don’t want to rant. But yeah, my heart sank last week.

I’ve been a Disney fan since 1977 when I was seven and my mother somehow scratched together the money to take my cousin and I. I continually drag my family back even though we could be spending our hard earned vacation money elsewhere. When I think of the places we could’ve seen by now! But that was my choice and I don’t blame Disney in any way. The Magic and the way I feel in my soul when I’m there truly sustains me.

But the money grabs have become too much to take. Cutting down on Early Magic hours, resort guest perks in general, and charging extra just to experience the place we’ve spent hundreds per person to get into?? It’s not like those gates open for free.

Welp I’m ranting ha! I better step away for a bit.

I definitely understand. This next trip in December will be our 12 or so Disney Trip. I love the ambiance, magical memories of Disney but I fear from what I read and what I see on You Tube that we will be disappointed. So my take is going to be this. I am staying at my favorite report YC CL with WV. I love the pool so that won’t change. If Genie plus gets me crazy then I am going to enjoy the Christmas decorations, Christmas party at MK and Candlelight Procession and the Holiday goodies at Epcot.
If we get on the rides we want great if not then I have the rest to fall back on. But I am promising myself that I am not going to get crazy if it does not work out because of the management money grab. I feel bad for the parents and children who dish out all this money and have to go through hoops to have a good time. I’m older so I have done that when Disney times were better suited for the guest and cast members. I hope things turn around but the CEO just said that they will raise prices if needed. Awful.

 

[gottalovepluto]

FWIW, I think the CM morale has improved since last fall. I noticed it last year too and attributed it to more stress on the job. But I have been four times this year and other than one horrible incident with a security personnel at DS, all of the CM I have encountered have seemed to be in better moods and performing at a level more akin to a few years ago

I’ve only a couple trips so far this year but I second this! Moral has vastly improved over last year, it’s been great to see the CMs happy again!

 

[NavyDad]

I definitely understand. This next trip in December will be our 12 or so Disney Trip. I love the ambiance, magical memories of Disney but I fear from what I read and what I see on You Tube that we will be disappointed. So my take is going to be this. I am staying at my favorite report YC CL with WV. I love the pool so that won’t change. If Genie plus gets me crazy then I am going to enjoy the Christmas decorations, Christmas party at MK and Candlelight Procession and the Holiday goodies at Epcot.
If we get on the rides we want great if not then I have the rest to fall back on. But I am promising myself that I am not going to get crazy if it does not work out because of the management money grab. I feel bad for the parents and children who dish out all this money and have to go through hoops to have a good time. I’m older so I have done that when Disney times were better suited for the guest and cast members. I hope things turn around but the CEO just said that they will raise prices if needed. Awful.

We have taken our kids to WDW many times since 2009. We had our daughter and one of her friends with us in April during Spring Break. We had far less hoops to jump through this year with Genie Plus than we ever had with the old legacy system or even FP+ and we were able to ride way more rides without any waiting than during any previous trip. I had warned my wife and daughter that with the new systems in place we may not get to ride as much as we did in the past and that this would probably be our last WDW trip for MANY years. Well, after our MK day and our DHS days spent riding back to back to back rides all day, they just laughed at me and said I was being dramatic with my doom and gloom predictions.

Now, obviously Disney has gotten much more expensive. Every person and/or family has to look at the price and make that decision if it's a good value for them. Going to WDW has always been expensive. I grew up in the 80's and 90's in a middle class family and my parents couldn't afford to take us to WDW. Out of all the people I went to school with in PA, only 1 or 2 families I knew could afford to go to WDW. It's always been expensive and unfortunately it seems like everything has gotten much more expensive everywhere the last few years. A house that we rented on the Outer Banks of NC for $3000 a week in 2008 was $6000 a week in 2018 and this summer it was almost $12,000 for the same week. We didn't book it this year because of the cost but I looked at the availability calendar and it's booked the whole summer with a couple of weeks costing nearly $15,000. Somehow people are paying these crazy prices and since people are paying them, the reality companies at the beach and the execs at Disney are going to keep raising the prices.