$ILL vs Rope Drop in each park?

[Scooley01]

Hi all,

We'll be at WDW for our belated Honeymoon the second week of June. We've got our plans pretty well worked out, but I want to double check on our morning priorities for each park - specifically, which parks do we need $ILL for, and which we can get away with just zooming over to a ride at Rope Drop (We'll be there at rope drop each day, either way). Here's what we're currently thinking...does this look OK, or are there any that we should shuffle?

Monday (EPCOT):

• $ILL: Guardians (try for VQ also, to cover bases)
• Genie+ at 7am: Frozen Ever After or Mission Space: Orange
• Rope Drop: Remy's Ratatouille Adventure

Tuesday (Hollywood Studios):

• $ILL: Rise of the Resistance
• Genie+ at 7am: Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway
• Rope Drop: Slinky Dog Dash

Wednesday (Animal Kingdom):

• $ILL: (none?)
• Genie+ at 7am: Na'Vi River Journey
• Rope Drop: Flight of Passage

Thursday (Magic Kingdom):

• $ILL: (none?)
• Genie+ at 7am: Jungle Cruise
• Rope Drop: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Friday (Epcot Day 2):

• $ILL: Try for Guardians again if we missed it on Monday
• Genie+ at 7am: Test Track
• Rope Drop: (???)

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Hi all,

We'll be at WDW for our belated Honeymoon the second week of June. We've got our plans pretty well worked out, but I want to double check on our morning priorities for each park - specifically, which parks do we need $ILL for, and which we can get away with just zooming over to a ride at Rope Drop (We'll be there at rope drop each day, either way). Here's what we're currently thinking...does this look OK, or are there any that we should shuffle?

Monday (EPCOT):

• $ILL: Guardians (try for VQ also, to cover bases)
• Genie+ at 7am: Frozen Ever After or Mission Space: Orange
• Rope Drop: Remy's Ratatouille Adventure

Tuesday (Hollywood Studios):

• $ILL: Rise of the Resistance
• Genie+ at 7am: Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway
• Rope Drop: Slinky Dog Dash

Wednesday (Animal Kingdom):

• $ILL: (none?)
• Genie+ at 7am: Na'Vi River Journey
• Rope Drop: Flight of Passage

Thursday (Magic Kingdom):

• $ILL: (none?)
• Genie+ at 7am: Jungle Cruise
• Rope Drop: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Friday (Epcot Day 2):

• $ILL: Try for Guardians again if we missed it on Monday
• Genie+ at 7am: Test Track
• Rope Drop: (???)

I think you've got it all covered and have a pretty solid plan, barring any breakdowns. I will say, that's a long week of rope dropping and waking up early. I'm assuming you are aware of this and don't mind being early birds but if you do decide to switch it up and realize you don't want to do this, the end of the night, get in line at park close strategy is always a pretty good bet too.

 

[Scooley01]

I think you've got it all covered and have a pretty solid plan, barring any breakdowns. I will say, that's a long week of rope dropping and waking up early. I'm assuming you are aware of this and don't mind being early birds but if you do decide to switch it up and realize you don't want to do this, the end of the night, get in line at park close strategy is always a pretty good bet too.

We're used to getting up at 5-6 for work, so we're hoping we can handle a week of early mornings + walking the parks all day. It's one of those "once in a lifetime" trips for us, so I don't want to miss out on anything haha

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Hi all,

We'll be at WDW for our belated Honeymoon the second week of June. We've got our plans pretty well worked out, but I want to double check on our morning priorities for each park - specifically, which parks do we need $ILL for, and which we can get away with just zooming over to a ride at Rope Drop (We'll be there at rope drop each day, either way). Here's what we're currently thinking...does this look OK, or are there any that we should shuffle?

Monday (EPCOT):

• $ILL: Guardians (try for VQ also, to cover bases)
• Genie+ at 7am: Frozen Ever After or Mission Space: Orange
• Rope Drop: Remy's Ratatouille Adventure

Tuesday (Hollywood Studios):

• $ILL: Rise of the Resistance
• Genie+ at 7am: Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway
• Rope Drop: Slinky Dog Dash

Wednesday (Animal Kingdom):

• $ILL: (none?)
• Genie+ at 7am: Na'Vi River Journey
• Rope Drop: Flight of Passage

Thursday (Magic Kingdom):

• $ILL: (none?)
• Genie+ at 7am: Jungle Cruise
• Rope Drop: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Friday (Epcot Day 2):

• $ILL: Try for Guardians again if we missed it on Monday
• Genie+ at 7am: Test Track
• Rope Drop: (???)

ILL plan looks fine but IMO this is too much Epcot for a five day trip.

 

[DL1WDW2]

You obviously have not ridden Cosmic Rewind yet and also have not seen those lines in preparation for the crowds…
You will want to ride Cosmic as many Times as possible
BUT take your time on your first walk thru because the very first time will be the very best first time for anything you have ever experienced at WDW …except for Tron.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

We're used to getting up at 5-6 for work, so we're hoping we can handle a week of early mornings + walking the parks all day. It's one of those "once in a lifetime" trips for us, so I don't want to miss out on anything haha

I totally get it. Enjoy, looks like an awesome trip!

 

[planplanplan]

I'm not sure you need to get Mission Space Orange at 7 AM under any circumstance. It's pretty easy to get whenever. I'd prioritize Frozen, Test Track or Soarin' first.

The same for MMRR at 7 AM unless you don't want to ride Smugglers, Slinky (a second time or as a backup if its down at rope drop), ToT or RnR.

For AK, I'd use Genie+ at 7 AM for the Safari, not Navi. Just ride Navi after you get off FOP, or get Navi as a later LL.

 

[k5xs]

Sounds like a solid plan to me.

FWIW we just returned and found lines for Mission Space Orange very low, so you might be able to get that without any special effort.

And BTW, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure is so cute!

 

[DisneyRobbie]

For HS it depends on your priorities I guess. If you are hell bent on SDD I agree with RD SDD.
However, if you are at all interestd in ToT and RnRR you should seriously considering rope dropping them instead (ToT has one of the elevators out for maintenance and I have seen waits routinely above 150 minutes - you could easily knock out these two with rope drop and probably get millennium falcon as well). If you prioritize SDD as your first genie plus you will likely get it however at times people are not successful doing this even with the first genie plus selection.

We did this strategy during Spring Break:
-ILL for RoTR
-Genie plus for SDD (even though we selected this first the time we got was 6:30PM!!)
-RD ToT then did RnRR (no waits at all) then we did TSMM which had a 45 minute actual wait

- We subsequently got genie plus for:
- MMRR
- MFSR (this was challenging - this was our 3rd genie plus so this was around 12PM and by then it was sold out - we kept "fiddle faddling" and got it nonetheless)
- ST (not really necessary the genie plus line was actually the same as walk on)

Also from my experiences being at the park at night time, MMRR typically has a negligible line near park close.

The other park strategies look great.
If you are interested in Kilamanjaro Safaris it may be beneficial to do genie plus for AK - we rope dropped Avatar then did Navi with no wait for both rides (we were at the front of rope drop though). Then we had genie plus for KS and the standby wait time was over an hour.
Of course KS typically has low to no wait late in the afternoon (when the animals are asleep).

HS can be very challenging and frustrating! Good luck!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Rope Drop: Remy's Ratatouille Adventure

Are you coming from the front of the park or the international gateway? Skyliner and Crescent Lake hotels have a significant advantage coming to Remy, while the front's advantage is Test Track.

I'm curious if Remy will stay ILL when Guardians opens. That would make Epcot the only park with two ILL for the summer.

For the sake of argument, let's put Remy in G+. If you're coming from the front, G+ Remy and RD Soarin', Test Track (or I guess Mission Space, since that seems to be a priority for you). If you're coming from the IG, you should be able to do Remy and then Frozen during early entry, use your G+ for Soarin', Test Track, or Mission Space.

If Remy is still ILL and you're coming from the front, I'd cost compare the Remy ILL with an Uber to Swan so you could use the IG entrance.

 

[Scooley01]

Are you coming from the front of the park or the international gateway? Skyliner and Crescent Lake hotels have a significant advantage coming to Remy, while the front's advantage is Test Track.

I'm curious if Remy will stay ILL when Guardians opens. That would make Epcot the only park with two ILL for the summer.

For the sake of argument, let's put Remy in G+. If you're coming from the front, G+ Remy and RD Soarin', Test Track (or I guess Mission Space, since that seems to be a priority for you). If you're coming from the IG, you should be able to do Remy and then Frozen during early entry, use your G+ for Soarin', Test Track, or Mission Space.

If Remy is still ILL and you're coming from the front, I'd cost compare the Remy ILL with an Uber to Swan so you could use the IG entrance.

We're staying at Pop, so we'll be coming in on Skyliner.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

We're staying at Pop, so we'll be coming in on Skyliner.

Then I vote RD Remy, then FEA. G+ the front of the park priorities.

 

[planplanplan]

If this is your only trip, please take into account that rides are frequently down at rope drop. Test Track is notorious for being down. Slinky, ToT, 7DMT, and RnRC also are sometimes down, though it's a risk for all rides.

The same is true for a LL/ILL. Rides go down, especially for weather in the afternoons, but at other times too.

If there are rides that you absolutely must ride, consider getting an $ILL/Genie+ and also rope dropping.

 

[tigertides]

QUESTION:

logistically, how do you get both ILL (for Rise) and Genie+ selection (for Slinky Dog) at DHS?

I mean, I can text pretty fast. But navigating my iPhone at 7am (staying on property) and getting both within seconds seems anxiety-provoking.

Is it possible for busy late July Weekday?

Also, what’s typical wait time for those rides at 8:59pm?

 

[DisneyRobbie]

When we got the ILL for RoTR and SDD both me and my wife were on our phones - turns out my MDE app completely stopped working so my wife picked up both but typically I would recommend one person purchase the RoTR ILL and the other person book the SDD genie plus selections for your entire party.

 

[planplanplan]

QUESTION:

logistically, how do you get both ILL (for Rise) and Genie+ selection (for Slinky Dog) at DHS?

I mean, I can text pretty fast. But navigating my iPhone at 7am (staying on property) and getting both within seconds seems anxiety-provoking.

Is it possible for busy late July Weekday?

Also, what’s typical wait time for those rides at 8:59pm?

Last week we just got Slinky and then Rise. No issue. There are a few drops for ILL so they reappear if you refresh.

 

[Scooley01]

QUESTION:

logistically, how do you get both ILL (for Rise) and Genie+ selection (for Slinky Dog) at DHS?

I mean, I can text pretty fast. But navigating my iPhone at 7am (staying on property) and getting both within seconds seems anxiety-provoking.

Is it possible for busy late July Weekday?

Also, what’s typical wait time for those rides at 8:59pm?

Husband and I are planning on splitting duties - one of us books the ILL and the other books Genie+. I imagine without a second person it would be WAY more difficult and you'd risk not getting the second thing. That said, there are reports of a second "drop" of availability happening around 7:17-7:20am, so there's a chance you could grab one thing at 7am and the second ride from that later drop. The later drop is an unofficial thing though, and Disney could take it away at any time, so it's hard to plan around that.

 

[tigertides]

Do you guys have the same Disney account on the app, or separate? I do all of my Disney planning for our entire family using my single login account. I’m not sure if it would be more troublesome to bring a second phone and have the app running on my two phones under the same account…

 

[DisneyRobbie]

I have my own account and my wife has her own - the park tickets are linked so we can get reservations for the entire party (me and wife, two young kids).
Advantages are that you can both be on MDE at the same time trying to get genie plus or even ADRs.
The good thing is if one of you is able to get a genie plus it will automatically update on the other account.
Bad thing is then both of you are on the phone at the same time.
In reality my wife wasn't on MDE hardly at all (just a couple times when she got SDD and MFSR on just one park day - all other days I took care of everything).

 

[DJFan88]

QUESTION:

logistically, how do you get both ILL (for Rise) and Genie+ selection (for Slinky Dog) at DHS?

I mean, I can text pretty fast. But navigating my iPhone at 7am (staying on property) and getting both within seconds seems anxiety-provoking.

Is it possible for busy late July Weekday?

Also, what’s typical wait time for those rides at 8:59pm?

Husband and I are planning on splitting duties - one of us books the ILL and the other books Genie+. I imagine without a second person it would be WAY more difficult and you'd risk not getting the second thing. That said, there are reports of a second "drop" of availability happening around 7:17-7:20am, so there's a chance you could grab one thing at 7am and the second ride from that later drop. The later drop is an unofficial thing though, and Disney could take it away at any time, so it's hard to plan around that.

This. If you follow your tips board before the day , you may see that that after the initial rush at 7 am with times pushing to night and then disappearing, new and better times emerge by refreshing. Generally this can start as early as 7:09 and can go through to about 7:20.
Do some experiments on the tip board ahead of time to get a feel.