JUST BACK 6/18-6/25 AKL Tips from a family of 8 including LLMP advice, tips for a motorized scooter, and tips for those on free dining promotion!

mggeary

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Family of 8 with older kids (college freshman, high school, 2 in middle school). Parents in law, one with a motorized scooter. Stayed at AKL 6/18-6/25. This trip we did early entry rope drop, break for pool/rest in afternoon and back to park for evening pretty much every day. I’ll do this post in several short posts with tips as I remember them. Start with thoughts on AKL.

THOUGHTS on AKL:
* resort is stunning, my favorite for theming, vibe, and restaurants

* we did standard resort view rooms. Being close to lobby is key, but being convenient to Mara/Pool is also very important. I had forgotten there is only one elevator on the Mara side of the resort. We were 5th floor Ostrich trail which was good but I’d consider requesting 3rd floor giraffe trail to avoid elevators to the 3rd floor lobby and same side as Mara

*AKL buses are in general good, but we found that unfortunately the first bus to MK, Epcot, & DHS came about 7:10-7:15 (not 7am), which made it challenging for us to be in the front of the early entry crowds, moving slower than usual with a big crew and a scooter

*The app for bus arrival times is spotty, not always accurate

*if you have a scooter in your party, send them to the bus first. Buses can only accommodate 1-2, rarely 3 scooters. They are the limiting factor of getting on. And they can text you when bus is here and they are loading the scooter for everyone else to hustle from The Mara with your coffees or from the room!

Boma is fantastic. If on DDP, do it twice! Sadly Boma has cut the number of soups from 20+ to just 7 now but everything else is as great as I remember it pre-COVID

In the summer, check radar prior to pool breaks. Disney will close pool when a lightning cell is close even if sunny. Pool is great. Wish they’d allow drinks sitting on edge of pool but I get it…. :)

NEXT POST will be tips on park security, park entry, early entry strategy, and grabbing same day LLMP with a party of 8…..
 
*if you have a scooter in your party, send them to the bus first. Buses can only accommodate 1-2, rarely 3 scooters. They are the limiting factor of getting on. And they can text you when bus is here and they are loading the scooter for everyone else to hustle from The Mara with your coffees or from the room!
Your saying use the guest with scooter as a "placeholder" for the rest of the group? What about others waiting in line and their tolerance for "line jumpers"? Not sure I support that tip, I do look forward to the rest of your report.
 
Your saying use the guest with scooter as a "placeholder" for the rest of the group? What about others waiting in line and their tolerance for "line jumpers"? Not sure I support that tip, I do look forward to the rest of your report.
No, not at all. I just mean that if the scooter is behind two other scooters (happened multiple times to us), they wait till the next bus.
 

Your saying use the guest with scooter as a "placeholder" for the rest of the group? What about others waiting in line and their tolerance for "line jumpers"? Not sure I support that tip, I do look forward to the rest of your report.
its way easier to squeeze 7 people on the bus (or the next bus) than to fit a scooter in a place that doesn't exist on the first bus :)
 
POST 2: PARK & LLMP TIPS

* Our day 1 (MK, 8 days out from LLMP booking window) & day 2 (DHS, 9 days out) were challenging booking good LLMP times. Thrill data.com estimates of availability at 7am were very accurate of what we could expect to get. I found it was helpful to spend some time modifying and optimizing times between 7:00 and 7:15am before purchasing for these days. Could tweak and get up to 20 min of overlap and improve times. but once purchased could no longer modify with any overlap until midnight of park day.

*At the park, same day availability was MUCH more limited for a group of 8 vs a group of 4. I tested this out several times. Best way to get additional same day LL or better times for a group of 8 was to use the thrilldata drop times. The 9:48 or 11:48 TBA drop was particularly money.

*If you running late and find yourself in a large line at the tapstiles, go to the far right at DHS and far left line at MK. They always opened up new lines and you could move up to the front.

*A CM at security told us that umbrellas and umbrella cases were the most frequent reason to get flagged for extra screening. Even if holding it in front of you. Leave em behind if you can.

*Our best days were when we decided to zig while others zagged at early entry. Ie at AK, go to Everest first and avoid 95% of crowds headed to Pandora. At DHS go to Sunset Blvd rides first rather than battling to SDD or SWRoR. This requires some more $ for LLSP but IMO well worth it.

*The unpublished 2 hour grace period after the LL window is awesome. It means you never have to rush to make a ride. And if you do mid day breaks you can use “expired” LLMP that you will still use to stack 5 or 6 LLMP for the afternoon.

*Since there are almost always brief thunderstorms in the afternoon, book outdoor attractions for the early afternoon that you know will be converted to anytime multi-ride experiences, which you can then book another LL.

More later……
 














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