Let me get this straight.....(final prep)

[xipotec]

Ok , Less than 2 weeks left mental acuity check.

1. Purchase G+ after midnight night before. (With our trip being exactly over AP Tiana's previews, my guess it not to wait till morning??)

2. Make 1st LL at 7am (set timer for every 2 hours post opening)

3. Can now cancel ADR 2 hours before.

4. Only 2 paid iLL allowed per day per park? Buy those at 7am for onsite guests?)

5. Being we expect madness in MK that week due to Tiana's AND summer AND Father Day, We are going to try the mid afternoon hotel break strategy. What time do you usually leave and come back? We have ADR lunches at about 12-1pm most days, and dinners starting at 6:30pm. we figure tour till lunch, eat, head back to hotel , come back for dinner and tour till closing?
Sound viable? Suggestions?

 

[Tom_E_D]

Ok , Less than 2 weeks left mental acuity check.

1. Purchase G+ after midnight night before. (With our trip being exactly over AP Tiana's previews, my guess it not to wait till morning??)

2. Make 1st LL at 7am (set timer for every 2 hours post opening)

3. Can now cancel ADR 2 hours before.

4. Only 2 paid iLL allowed per day per park? Buy those at 7am for onsite guests?)

5. Being we expect madness in MK that week due to Tiana's AND summer AND Father Day, We are going to try the mid afternoon hotel break strategy. What time do you usually leave and come back? We have ADR lunches at about 12-1pm most days, and dinners starting at 6:30pm. we figure tour till lunch, eat, head back to hotel , come back for dinner and tour till closing?
Sound viable? Suggestions?

You can buy Genie+ as early as midnight, and if you're awake anyway, you may as well. However, I don't think it is necessary to stay up that late. Genie+ has never sold out prior to 7:00, although it has sold out at least once prior to park opening. I know you're going at a busy time, but it probably won't be as busy as Christmas week or Easter, and it didn't sell out before 7:00 then. You can make your first LL selection at 7:00. You can buy Genie+ shortly before then. If the two-hour rule governs (and you don't tap in, etc. earlier), you can make your next one two hours after park opening, then two hours after that, etc.

You're only "allowed" two ILL purchases per day total. It's not just a limit of two per park. If onsite, you can buy them both at 7:00. (There is a recent post in the Everything Genie thread where someone was able to buy three. That seems to have been a glitch.)

 

[tseitel]

Sounds good, but regarding #2, setting your 2 hour alarm really depends on when that first LL is for, so set your (silent) alarm accordingly.

 

[wdw&sonny]

5. Regarding afternoon breaks. We do it all the time. But, that window can be short. If you have lunch ADR at 1:00, you may finish at 2:30 if busy/slow. Depending on where you are staying and mode of transportation, you may get back to resort at 3:30. To make a 6:30 dinner ADR, you need to leave the resort by 5:30. We had a couple of trips where we felt like we arrived back at the resort and had to start getting ready to leave. Have realistic expectations and plan accordingly.

 

[SealedSeven]

#2 - It will either be 2 hours from Park Open for next Genie + selection or when you Scan in for your Genie + Selection, which ever comes in first. After that, its 2 hours from next selection or Scan In for Selection, which ever comes first.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

1. I don't think the parks will be super busy to the point that G+ will sell out before 6:45am. If it has happened before, it was very rare.
2. the wait between G+ can be up to two hours, and it is a confusing, but sometimes you can book next pass sooner than 2 hours. One thing you can do is look in MDE, and if you try to book another g+ (too soon) it will tell you the time you can book next pass. (as in that is how I check) This is one situation where I strongly advise you to watch a short video tutorial on how G+ works.
3. Yes.
4. Yes, but I rarely buy even 1, though we usually skip Rise. IMO, it isn't worth $20 per person. Most days, you should be able to get a VQ for GoG and/or Tron. The one ILL we sometimes buy is FoP, but on those AK days we don't buy G+ for AK.

One way I judge the value/idea of buying G+ is the price. If the price of G+ is low, you don't need it, especially for Epcot and AK, unless you plan to hop. HS is always a slog, so prob a good idea to buy G+ for HS. G+ is usually useful in MK, but not essential on slower days.

5. We only do 1 TS meal per day. The meal itself is slow, and getting there can also take quite a bit of time. If you are eating at 1pm, you might not be done until after 2:15pm. TS meals at WDW are just slow. Depending on the park/transportation choices, it can easily take an hour to get back to your hotel. So it might be 3:30pm just to GET to your hotel. If dinner is in the park, you might need to allow a full hour just to get from hotel room to the dinner. Some folks are happy to do it that way, but that also limits your G+ options.

I especially would not buy G+ on my AK day if I had 2 TS planned that day, and no park hopping.

We usually do quick breakfast, quick lunch, then TS dinner or all QS these days. With summer heat and rainstorms, breaks are a bit variable. In hot months, we break from about 2:30-3pm to about 5:30pm, and return to the parks until close- BUT that is also hitting the parks hard from opening until 2:30-3pm. A storm can also = adjusting our break time.

 

[tom1944]

. We only do 1 TS meal per day. The meal itself is slow, and getting there can also take quite a bit of time. If you are eating at 1pm, you might not be done until after 2:15pm. TS meals at WDW are just slow. Depending on the park/transportation choices, it can easily take an hour to get back to your hotel. So it might be 3:30pm just to GET to your hotel. If dinner is in the park, you might need to allow a full hour just to get from hotel room to the dinner. Some folks are happy to do it that way, but that also limits your G+ options.


We plan to do our table service for a late as possible lunch- after 2pm and then one easy to do or by appointment thing after that and go back to the resort. If we need to adjust, we will.

Dinner will be a quick service on the monorail line for the first half of vacation and we will have to see what the second half at BWV will work

 

[Mouse Tracker]

Not knowing your personal expectations and based on the original post, I don't think you'll get a lot done in the parks, probably waste your G+ purchase, curious to see if the $ILL times work with ADR's. At least you'll be full by evening fireworks.

 

[xipotec]

Well, things may change and we may stay through the afternoon, but looking at the temps I am pretty sure we will need a break.

The game changer is we are not using Disney transport, It will be Uber or personal vehicles.

We usually make an ADR at GF and valet park when we drive ourselves. (Totally allowed)

So the plan is to Uber back and forth for the AM and afternoon, then use the personal vehicle for the evening to avoid the UBER and Dis transport crush.

 

[xipotec]

5. Regarding afternoon breaks. We do it all the time. But, that window can be short. If you have lunch ADR at 1:00, you may finish at 2:30 if busy/slow. Depending on where you are staying and mode of transportation, you may get back to resort at 3:30. To make a 6:30 dinner ADR, you need to leave the resort by 5:30. We had a couple of trips where we felt like we arrived back at the resort and had to start getting ready to leave. Have realistic expectations and plan accordingly.

Yeah I was wondering how tight that would be, hopefully to make up that time by ride share being quicker than buses, and that also fine.

As long as we have 2 hours to refresh show and change it's enough I think.

CBR is 15 minutes by ride share, back and forth to GF or POLY.

 

[pixiedust2u]

I agree with other posters that 2 TS meals in a day may throw some of your plans. In busy park days we do one TS meal max, if that. Having reservations means you have to constantly manage your genie+ reservations around dining which can be stressful. If there’s flexibility to omit some of your reservations I’d consider doing so. It gives you so much more flexibility in terms of genie+, when to leave or return to park. However, if dining is an important part of your park experience, then I think you just need to be realistic in what you can accomplish otherwise, and not stress if you have to give up some things.

 

[tom1944]

I agree with other posters that 2 TS meals in a day may throw some of your plans. In busy park days we do one TS meal max, if that. Having reservations means you have to constantly manage your genie+ reservations around dining which can be stressful. If there’s flexibility to omit some of your reservations I’d consider doing so. It gives you so much more flexibility in terms of genie+, when to leave or return to park. However, if dining is an important part of your park experience, then I think you just need to be realistic in what you can accomplish otherwise, and not stress if you have to give up some things.

We are a 1 TS meal per day on our park days. 2 on our free days.

Do people find it more efficient to do a lunch or a dinner TS on park days. Or no real difference?

 

[Shughart]

We are a 1 TS meal per day on our park days. 2 on our free days.

Do people find it more efficient to do a lunch or a dinner TS on park days. Or no real difference?

If I was doing a lunch ADR, that would BE MY BREAK. Because TS tends to take so long. We're sitting, it's air conditioned, and then we'd be back up and running. I wouldn't be doing a lunch ADR AND a break. We do dinner ADR. Midday break, shower, rest, hit dinner ADR (early) and head back into the parks. We only do two meals a day in Disney, either a breakfast/lunch around 10/11. Then earlyish dinner ADR 4/5pm. There's almost always a treat later that night.

 

[xipotec]

Our morning ADRs GFC at 7:30am. Having done that before we almost slowly made rope drop after that meal.

Then our next would at 5-6 PM

We did away with all lunch ADRs in favor of a rest break.

We have been so many time that we really only want to ride the new stuff and the old favorites, our kids are older and good food is a big part of our trips,

right now at MK all we really must do is Tron, HM, BTMRR, SPace and POTC.

Everything else is only if it's a shorter line.

We do have 2 days at MK also, so trying to make this a more chill trip over the usual gorilla style attack mode.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

The game changer is we are not using Disney transport, It will be Uber or personal vehicles.

That is an important detail. We also use a car a good deal of the time. The car helps.

How to spend your time/money is a very personal choice, so there isn't really a right or wrong choice. Part of what makes WDW fun is the choices. It sounds like you already know how long it takes to get around WDW, and all about G+, so I think you'll have a great trip.

 

[Meglen]

Is the AP preview really gonna make parks busier? I feel it wont change much of anything. Now the release week I can see that causing more folks to flood MK.

 

[subtchr]

Ok , Less than 2 weeks left mental acuity check.

1. Purchase G+ after midnight night before. (With our trip being exactly over AP Tiana's previews, my guess it not to wait till morning??)

2. Make 1st LL at 7am (set timer for every 2 hours post opening)

3. Can now cancel ADR 2 hours before.

4. Only 2 paid iLL allowed per day per park? Buy those at 7am for onsite guests?)

5. Being we expect madness in MK that week due to Tiana's AND summer AND Father Day, We are going to try the mid afternoon hotel break strategy. What time do you usually leave and come back? We have ADR lunches at about 12-1pm most days, and dinners starting at 6:30pm. we figure tour till lunch, eat, head back to hotel , come back for dinner and tour till closing?
Sound viable? Suggestions?

1. Zero need to buy it before 6:45. It will not sell out before 7. I don't think the park will be more packed than it usually is at all. There are a lot of APs with park reservations that may not go if they don't get a 7 am VQ for Tiana, or who may go for that ride only. But even if crowds are large, many APs don't by Genie+, and it has never sold out before about 8:30 am on even the very busiest days.

2. First thing at 7:00:00, book the Tron VQ. Then your first LL. No need to set alarms after that in advance, because the subsequent booking times will depend on when you book and use LLs along the way. The app will tell you when you can book next. Set your alarm then.

3. Yes.

4. Two ILL total per day, not per park. There are only 5 in total, MK is the only park with 2.

5. Timing depends on you. You have TS reservations for both lunch and dinner?? That's a lot of time in restaurants, and a lot of food. We do at most 1 TS a day. But do what works best for your family!

 

[xipotec]

1. Zero need to buy it before 6:45. It will not sell out before 7. I don't think the park will be more packed than it usually is at all. There are a lot of APs with park reservations that may not go if they don't get a 7 am VQ for Tiana, or who may go for that ride only. But even if crowds are large, many APs don't by Genie+, and it has never sold out before about 8:30 am on even the very busiest days.

2. First thing at 7:00:00, book the Tron VQ. Then your first LL. No need to set alarms after that in advance, because the subsequent booking times will depend on when you book and use LLs along the way. The app will tell you when you can book next. Set your alarm then.

3. Yes.

4. Two ILL total per day, not per park. There are only 5 in total, MK is the only park with 2.

5. Timing depends on you. You have TS reservations for both lunch and dinner?? That's a lot of time in restaurants, and a lot of food. We do at most 1 TS a day. But do what works best for your family!

Thanks for the direct answers

we are going to do BOTH VQ and ILL for the ones that have it. Lots floating around about the 1pm VQ being much easier...

If I get a morning VQ and it appears the time will not work with our break , can I cancel that morning VQ and try again at the 1PM for a better shot at a later time?

Especially for TRON, want to ride that at night.

 

[subtchr]

If I get a morning VQ and it appears the time will not work with our break , can I cancel that morning VQ and try again at the 1PM for a better shot at a later time?

Especially for TRON, want to ride that at night.

Yes. But you can also just choose an evening time for the ILL. I'd do that to be certain you get what you want.

 

[Meglen]

Thanks for the direct answers

we are going to do BOTH VQ and ILL for the ones that have it. Lots floating around about the 1pm VQ being much easier...

If I get a morning VQ and it appears the time will not work with our break , can I cancel that morning VQ and try again at the 1PM for a better shot at a later time?

Especially for TRON, want to ride that at night.

VQ used to be able to be used anytime even when it was past the time (yes the thing says 15min). But.. and this is not guaranteed we never had issues rolling up to a vq 8 hours later than the call time. This was a flight day so we ran really late and no one asked a thing. Than a few other times an hour or so later due to food and travel time.

Take with a grain of salt tho.