Should We Add G+?

[DisneyStarWisher]

DH and I are traveling to WDW at the end of September to celebrate the 50th anniversary. This will be our last trip for awhile. Last time we were in the parks was November 2019. We've been several times, so the goal of this trip is to be there during the 50th and ride our favorite rides. We will be getting 2-day PHs and hope to get tickets to the Moonlight Magic event at AK. Here is our plan for the other two days (a Thursday and a Friday):

Day 1: Epcot (Early Entry)/Park Hop to MK
Epcot: Must do Remy, F&W Festival (really want to take our time here as Epcot is our favorite park)
Break at resort, dinner at SH71 (can leave MK or will eat before entering MK)
MK: Fireworks and Splash Mt. are the priorities but also want to ride HM, PotC, JC, BTMRR, 7DMT, PP (Whatever we don't get done this day, we can do tomorrow.)

Day 2: DHS (Early Entry)/Park Hop to MK
DHS: Must ride RotR (missed it by 5 days last trip) and MMRR but also want to ride SDD, TSM
Move to next resort, early dinner at Ohana (hopefully)
MK: Ride anything on the list we didn't get to do the day before (maybe HM one more time)

So based on when we are going and what we want to do, should we get G+ and ILLs? I want to go ahead and purchase tickets now, but I don't think I need to add them for 2 days. The problem is if I add G+ to the 2nd day day of, if tickets go up between now and then, we have to pay for the increase plus the $15/person. By the way, does that also apply to ILLs? If tickets increase, do you have to pay the difference plus the ILL cost? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

ETA: We also plan to do SH71 dinner on our first park day. I have added it to the itinerary.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Personally I would wait and add by the day later if you don’t want it for both days. If you’re not planning to buy fir all days then you will want to add once there.

Also, September is historically lower crowds so you may find by watching the wait times before your trip that you don’t need it at all.

On the flip side, since you have plenty of time to budget/plan, spending $60now may be money we’ll spent.

Honestly it’s a personal decision. If it were us I’d be adding it now with 2 day tickets since you’re planning on going to MK both days in the afternoon and you can stack (at least now you can) before arriving g in the MK.

 

[wiggy500]

After having had an unpleasant experience trying to buy Genie Plus day of I'd recommend buying it ahead of time.

The ILL$ cost is not connected to the ticket cost. And that you only can buy day of.

 

[SLThomas318]

I agree that genie+ should be helpful for PM stacks at MK… the larger volume of rides makes it easier to use in that park. I think what will be tough is the unpredictable return times at HS (although with end of sept being slower, might not be as bad). It seems hard to get AM return times for ROR and SDD… especially in the same day since both need to be booked at 7am.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

I agree that genie+ should be helpful for PM stacks at MK… the larger volume of rides makes it easier to use in that park. I think what will be tough is the unpredictable return times at HS (although with end of sept being slower, might not be as bad). It seems hard to get AM return times for ROR and SDD… especially in the same day since both need to be booked at 7am.

Good information! I'm worried about G+ at every park actually, but particularly at DHS. I think the plan will be to do early entry RD at DHS and go straight to RotR (without paying for ILL). As far as using G+, should we...?
1. Book SDD right at 7:00 a.m. for hopefully a late morning return time. Then after riding RotR, head to MMRR and then TSM and ride those standby (or try to stack one before SDD).
2. Book MMRR (if it stays available on G+). Then after riding RotR, head to SDD to ride standby and try to get a LL for TSM.

If anyone has experience on this, please advise!

 

[Westerner]

Good information! I'm worried about G+ at every park actually, but particularly at DHS. I think the plan will be to do early entry RD at DHS and go straight to RotR (without paying for ILL). As far as using G+, should we...?
1. Book SDD right at 7:00 a.m. for hopefully a late morning return time. Then after riding RotR, head to MMRR and then TSM and ride those standby (or try to stack one before SDD).
2. Book MMRR (if it stays available on G+). Then after riding RotR, head to SDD to ride standby and try to get a LL for TSM.

If anyone has experience on this, please advise!

Getting an AM return time for MMRR/TSM should be doable, but chancy for RotR/SDD. My advice is check back here shortly before you go as G+/$ILL availability has bounced around a LOT at DHS.

 

[SLThomas318]

I would just keep watching the boards and see how things change. Considering Disney has already been making changes… who knows what the system will look like by the end of September. It’s too hard to strategize ‘till it gets closer to your travel dates. I think the lower crowds in September will work in your favor. As far as purchasing now vs later… it depends on what the $60 means to you in terms of overall budget (knowing that you might be buying a few $ILL on top of it depending if Disney goes back to 2 $ILL per park after Aug). My husband and I have both said it’s easier to justify it on a trip with just the 2 of us vs. the family (obviously lower cost, but as 2 adults we can maximize it vs. touring with 2 young kids who won’t/can’t do certain rides and need breaks).

 

[pens4821]

I just got back and would buy genie+ for every day for myself in the future. Although in your case, you could probably get everything done you wanted with buying genie+ on day 1 and ILL on day 2.

Day 1 I’d start stacking in the morning for mk. I’d maybe wait on pot because we could only get 5 before lost the big stuff ran out. But that wait shouldn’t be bad in the evening. You could probably get the other 5 except 7d and ride they at closing or while the fireworks are going off.

Day 2 I’d ILL rotr, rope drop sdd, then go to tsm, then mmrr. Tsm should only be about 5-10 minutes if you get to sdd quickly. Then mmrr may be a little bit of a wait but you should still get it all done in an hour to hour and a half after opening.