last minute possible day trip first since 2017- I need concise help

[bumbershoot]

(editing the parenthetical thought...I was a stresscase when I wrote this, and I apologize for how it all came out of my mouth, er, fingers. Things ultimately went well.)

If anyone is up tonight, I would love resources. After many years of APs and countless trips, I had a hiatus until 2017 when I did a one-day trip and still had paper FPs and thought maxpass was silly. Now it's all so different!

I'd love something to read that explains how to do a day there at the last minute.

Thank you SO much for any thoughts or resources you have.

 

[irlandaise]

The first thing would be to get a reservation for the park you want to start at. (If you're buying a park hopper, you can go to the other one pretty soon; I think it's 11:00 a.m. now.) Do that right away!

 

[bumbershoot]

The first thing would be to get a reservation for the park you want to start at. (If you're buying a park hopper, you can go to the other one pretty soon; I think it's 11:00 a.m. now.) Do that right away!

Oh yes definitely.

As I read...Genie+ only lets you get on up to 3 rides per day?

Disney is SO good at making things incredibly convoluted...

 

[Lisa24jks]

Oh yes definitely.

As I read...Genie+ only lets you get on up to 3 rides per day?

That is definitely not true. You can get on as many rides as your day will allow. (But you can only use LL or ILLs once per available ride.) Since you're only there for one day, I do recommend purchasing Genie+ though, you'll be able to get a lot more done (if that's your goal). But, familiarize yourself with a list of what rides offer LLs or ILLs to make sure these are rides you're interested in. LLs are the lightning lanes that come with the Genie+ purchase pride. ILLs will cost you an extra fee, and there are 3 rides that are currently ILLs: Radiator Springs Racers, Rise of the Resistance and Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway. (You don't have to have Genie+ to do ILLs, but you will need it of you want regular LLs.)

If you're traveling solo, or don't mind splitting up your group, I also recommend checking out which rides currently have a Single Rider line. That will get you on faster as well.

It does seem convoluted, but it's easier to catch on to than it sounds. (At least IMO.)

 

[GoHorns94]

Other than one lightening lane per ride per day, there is zero limit on Genie+ rides as long as availability for LLs exists.

https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/disneyland-genie-plus-tips/

 

[bumbershoot]

but it's easier to catch on to than it sounds.

Em...not from what I'm experiencing.

as long as availability for LLs exists

That's specifically the issue that I keep reading about. Get a new one once you scan in OR 2 hours later if you haven't scanned in? Depending on when a person gets there and how they understand the system, that could be an issue.


I miss paper FastPass.
I wish that if they had to go digital to help stop people crisscrossing the parks, they'd just done FP digitally without all the nonsense. When you need 3? separate acronyms to describe one process, something has gone very very wrong with your design process.


And I cannot get my card to go through to buy tickets. After the site logged me out and emptied my cart at least 10 total times.

Fun!

 

[DizMe]

Welcome back! Good to see you again.

I know it sounds really daunting, and it does take more steps than it used to, but don't freak out because it's not as bad as it seems.

For one thing, you don't have to get Genie+ to have a good time. If you're by yourself or it's just a couple of people, you can do single rider on many rides. Take advantage of the slower times (early and late in the day). Don't stress about doing everything--just choose what's most important and enjoy the atmosphere of DLR. I've never purchased Genie+ and have been able to ride everything I wanted. You've already got a good knowledge of layout and what rides you most want to do.

I find the biggest headache to be dining. The reservations system is a royal pain, but if you don't care about sit-down meals, that won't be an issue. It's also very possible to get into many of the restaurants that require a reservation as a walk-up, so even last minute you could hit Blue Bayou etc. and probably get in. Since you're only there for a day, that's probably not an issue anyway.

I was really stressed when I first went after the changes, but you'll quickly get a handle on things. If you don't get to everything, you just have to go back, LOL.

 

[mdmost]

If anyone is up tonight, I would love resources. After many years of APs and countless trips, I had a hiatus until 2017 when I did a one-day trip and still had paper FPs and thought maxpass was silly. Now it's all so different!

I'd love something to read that explains how to do a day there at the last minute.

Thank you SO much for any thoughts or resources you have.

She has pretty good strategies for getting a lot done at DLR

https://disneylanddaily.com/how-to-start-your-day-at-disneyland/

 

[Kit Jackson]

I wish that if they had to go digital to help stop people crisscrossing the parks, they'd just done FP digitally without all the nonsense. When you need 3? separate acronyms to describe one process, something has gone very very wrong with your design process.

I totally agree with you. If they were going to get rid of paper FP and switch to all digital paid system, they really should have just expanded MaxPass to WDW. MaxPass was pretty much what you descibed. It was basically a paid version of the old FP (plus it included photos).

 

[DisneylandFan22]

Welcome back! Good to see you again.

I know it sounds really daunting, and it does take more steps than it used to, but don't freak out because it's not as bad as it seems.

For one thing, you don't have to get Genie+ to have a good time. If you're by yourself or it's just a couple of people, you can do single rider on many rides. Take advantage of the slower times (early and late in the day). Don't stress about doing everything--just choose what's most important and enjoy the atmosphere of DLR. I've never purchased Genie+ and have been able to ride everything I wanted. You've already got a good knowledge of layout and what rides you most want to do.

I find the biggest headache to be dining. The reservations system is a royal pain, but if you don't care about sit-down meals, that won't be an issue. It's also very possible to get into many of the restaurants that require a reservation as a walk-up, so even last minute you could hit Blue Bayou etc. and probably get in. Since you're only there for a day, that's probably not an issue anyway.

I was really stressed when I first went after the changes, but you'll quickly get a handle on things. If you don't get to everything, you just have to go back, LOL.

I agree. We have never gotten Genie+ either and have had the same experience.

 

[twodogs]

I totally agree with you. If they were going to get rid of paper FP and switch to all digital paid system, they really should have just expanded MaxPass to WDW. MaxPass was pretty much what you descibed. It was basically a paid version of the old FP (plus it included photos).

G+ also includes Photopass.

G+ is the name of the product you will buy that will allow you to book Lightening Lanes (old FP), here called LL. You can book one LL per ride per park per day (so you can increase the value if you have a park hopper). Yes there is the “use it or wait 2 hour rule” (similar to FP+) but you can often book a LL, then try to modify it in the app for an earlier return time, ride the ride, and then book the next one in far less than 2 hours.

Completely separate from G+, you can buy up to 2 individual LLs per day (ILLs). These are rides that have a LL (old FP lane) but you can only enter it by purchasing an ILL for this specific ride (ie these rides are excluded from G+). There are 3 rides: ROTR, MMRR, and RSR. You can only buy up to 2 rides this way each day, and you can‘t buy an ILL for the same ride more than once. You can buy ILLs even if you don’t buy G+.

Some rides are neither included in G+ nor have the option to buy an ILL (Similar to FP days when some rides just didn’t have the FP option).

You can’t book an LL or buy an ILL until you have entered the first park for the day.

Remember to use Single Rider, as PP stated, since you are going solo. I think that is available on RSR, Matterhorn, Incredicoaster, SM, MFSM and possibly some others that I am forgetting.

 

[bumbershoot]

Hey all!
I added a parenthesis to my OP apologizing for my obvious frustration last week. I appreciate people trying to help me.

I was at my sibling's, it was suggested the day before that we go to DL after dropping my sibling in law at the airport, which meant a late start etc. I've missed DL so so much, but, I mean...until I saw signs I'd literally forgotten that Galaxy's Edge existed. That's how clueless I was.

We went. The site fought me for hours and hours with payment, but I made it happen. Also bought parking, which worked well. Hit the airport, drove to Anaheim, found the parking lot, parked.

We did not spend all day there. That's what things are like with that sibling, and it made for a day where no one ached too much at the end. It's a bit of money to spend for a short day, but oh well!

As we got there I decided to go for it and buy the irksome-because-it-exists Genie+. Once that decision was made there was no point avoiding it.

It worked how others described it here, not how I read about it that night. I have a feeling if it had been a busier day it would have been less pleasant.

We basically went from ride to ride based on what was nearby and had quick return times. Spent a bit of time at the new DVC lounge, which was nice. Rode Smuggler's Run, which was fun since my sibling and I saw Star Wars (not "a new hope") in theaters when it was released, when we were 5 and 7. We both kinda had little flashbacks to a fun part of our childhood (which was kinda traumatic for a lot of it so we don't talk about it often).

Had well-timed late lunch at Zocalo, which is as good as it always was.

The next morning we wished we had spent more time at Galaxy's Edge. Live and learn! And even though tickets are terribly expensive (from my viewpoint) it's not like the older days when going just one more standalone day would make buying an AP worth it, so I didn't mess anything up by not upgrading to whatever-they-call-it now. If I visit my sib and the idea is brought up again, we'll buy another standalone ticket, hopefully start the day earlier, and really make the most of it.

Anyway, I do appreciate the help y'all tried to give me, and I wanted to say thank you.
Thank you!

 

[GoHorns94]

Happy you went and enjoyed it - Galaxy’s Edge is simply amazing with so much detail around every corner. I highly recommend trying to also see it at night next time around.

So much has changed since 2017 and we have had to roll with those changes too. We have always purchased Photopass for our trips and with unlimited photos/Photopass being included in the Genie+ purchase at DLR, it made buying Genie+ a no brainer for my four pack. Not sure if you took advantage of the photopass photographers this trip but something to consider on your next visit.

We must be close to the same age as I was 4 when seeing Star Wars (episode IV) in theaters too. I was 5 when visiting Disneyland for the very first time, all the way back in 1979. Talk about changes since those days!

Thanks for the trip update and glad it worked out!

 

[bumbershoot]

Happy you went and enjoyed it - Galaxy’s Edge is simply amazing with so much detail around every corner. I highly recommend trying to also see it at night next time around.

So much has changed since 2017 and we have had to roll with those changes too. We have always purchased Photopass for our trips and with unlimited photos/Photopass being included in the Genie+ purchase at DLR, it made buying Genie+ a no brainer for my four pack. Not sure if you took advantage of the photopass photographers this trip but something to consider on your next visit.

We must be close to the same age as I was 4 when seeing Star Wars (episode IV) in theaters too. I was 5 when visiting Disneyland for the very first time, all the way back in 1979. Talk about changes since those days!

Thanks for the trip update and glad it worked out!

My brother is the younger one, but yes, around the same age.

I'm not a big photopass person. I used to be, but then I never did a single thing with the pictures. I tried to get my son to jump in front of a camera but we just didn't see them.