ILL/Genie+ and ADRs

[CeeCee101]

Sorry if this has been covered ad nauseum but again I am an oldie/newbie who used to go a lot to WDW but haven’t been back for 10+ years. We used to be able to PLAN, and set our ADRs around what parks we were doing on X day. How do people do this now? For example, let’s say we want to do HS on Day 2. I have to first make a park reservation. (Then I can hop after 2 pm, ok not perfect but can do). On this day we would normally have ADR at Brown Derby for around noon. But then say that morning I try for an ILL for ROTR and the only time I can get is for 5 pm. That tosses our whole park reservation and ADR for noon at Brown Derby out the window. Does that mean my only option then (since I already have a reservation for HS that day and can’t hop until 2 pm) mean I MUST do HS that morning, and then come back again at 5? Maybe there are some good sub forums on this but this stuff seems really difficult to manage now in terms of planning especially with trying to do ADRs. Any routing to other links appreciated.

 

[Jonfw2]

For starters, there are rumors that the 2pm hard time for park hopping may be gone...apparently, that rule is now gone from WDW's website.

But you absolutely have nailed a flaw in the LL system- it's very possible that even if you book your LL very early in the morning, you could still get a time for late evening- when you hadn't planned on being in that park. And worse, it can keep changing your time right up until you've paid. So you could get stuck with an evening LL at one park that you've paid for and an ADR at another park that you'll get penalized for skipping.

 

[han22735]

For starters, there are rumors that the 2pm hard time for park hopping may be gone...apparently, that rule is now gone from WDW's website.

Its back now today so just an IT glitch yesterday.


Also wanted to add this exact scenario is why we wont be park hopping this trip. Either no Dinner ADR at that park or an ADR in the same park only.

 

[CeeCee101]

So using my hypothetical seems as if this gets even more difficult. So we are going to use my hypo above: I reserve HS for Tuesday, I make an ADR for Brown Derby at noon. I get on right at 7 to make my ROTR LL but it doesn’t give me a time until 5 pm. So even if I tried to go with that flow and say Ok I will just do BD at lunch on my ADR and then stay at HS for the evening so I can get on ROTR at 5, I am STILL stuck right because I can’t do anything else in the morning except go to HS, right? In other words I can’t go to Epcot for the morning and then head over to HS at noon for the rest of the day and my evening LL because a) my reserved park is HS and b) I can’t park hop until 2. Do I have any options besides spending the entire day and evening at HS in this scenario? if The 2 pm rule was not in I could live with running over to HS, tap in but immediately leave and go to Epcot and then just head back to HS at noon for my ADR @ BD for lunch and stay for 5 pm ROTR LL. What a mess! This makes ADRs almost utterly useless…

 

[han22735]

Yup...in your scenario you're stuck there. So hope and pray your ILL is for before the Brown derby res.

 

[DisneySyd]

So using my hypothetical seems as if this gets even more difficult. So we are going to use my hypo above: I reserve HS for Tuesday, I make an ADR for Brown Derby at noon. I get on right at 7 to make my ROTR LL but it doesn’t give me a time until 5 pm. So even if I tried to go with that flow and say Ok I will just do BD at lunch on my ADR and then stay at HS for the evening so I can get on ROTR at 5, I am STILL stuck right because I can’t do anything else in the morning except go to HS, right? In other words I can’t go to Epcot for the morning and then head over to HS at noon for the rest of the day and my evening LL because a) my reserved park is HS and b) I can’t park hop until 2. Do I have any options besides spending the entire day and evening at HS in this scenario? if The 2 pm rule was not in I could live with running over to HS, tap in but immediately leave and go to Epcot and then just head back to HS at noon for my ADR @ BD for lunch and stay for 5 pm ROTR LL. What a mess! This makes ADRs almost utterly useless…

I have a couple suggestions:
1. If right at 7am you’re already seeing late afternoon times then don’t book. Wait a few minutes (it will show sold out during that time) and a new drop of timeslots will appear and you will have a much better chance of getting an earlier time. Note: the new drop is currently around 7:10ish (used to be 7:17ish) but can change so play around with the app right before your trip or check on here.
2. If your time changes after you pay to a much later time, you can go to the blue umbrellas to get it changed back
3. Epcot is usually the last park to sell out of reservations (this may change when GotG opens) so check if you can cancel HS and book Epcot (double check availability before you cancel)