Stacking Question for you pros out there!

[JackStraw]

I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent guy and yet I am *still* having trouble wrapping my head around stacking despite having read countless blog posts/guides/FAQ (and also having watched YT vids ). So here's my question:

I get the basics of the 7am start time; the 11am window )if park opens at 9am) and then the every two hours thing.

And I get that the 120 min rule is nullified (or maybe it's more accurate to say "the clock is reset?") upon tapping into your g+'attraction.

So, my question is ... what if you aren't planning to only stack mid/late-aft. or eve attractions, but want to maybe start earlier and sort of divide and conquer?

Specifically, let's say you plan to hop to HS late aft, but are going to spend a few hours at MK beginning at rope drop. So you wake up at 6:45 and make a g+ for Space Mountain at 10am. Then upon tapping in to Space Mntn, you immediately look at HS returns for the headliners beginning in the late aft and are able to nail down Slinky at 7pm. This happens at 10:05 AM. At that point you then need to wait two hours (12:05) until you can book your next g+ return, right. And then so on and so forth (2:05; 4:05; 6:05) until you potentially have five attractions stacked at HS, right? Hopefully, I have this more or less right!

So am I wrong in tk seeing any disadvantage to having used that 7am g+ opportunity on a 10am Space Mntn rather than redirecting it to HS and just starting my stack right out of the gate at 7am rather than 10am? I mean, what difference does it really make if other than basically having one less hour working in your favor with which to stack? Think about it -- in the example I gave, I used g+ on Space Mntn at 10am and began my stack at 10:05 after tapping in so I was able to stack five rides at 10:05; 12:05; 2:05; 4:05; and 6:05 (as long as my first booking didn't begin until after 6:05). But if I didn't use my 7am g+ at MK on Space Mntn in the morning and simply did Rope Drop stand-by and walk-ons, then I could use it for starting my HS stack so that would mean 7am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm ... which would still leave me with five stacked attractions at HS beginning early evening.

Am I missing something? Cause it kind of seems like there is no disadvantage to using the 7am g+ at your morning park for a relatively early return and then doing everything thereafter for an evening stack!

 

[g-dad66]

That strategy makes sense, unless (1) it is a very busy day, and (2) you want to do Slinky Dog. On a busy day, Slinky will be gone well before 10:05, so you would sacrifice doing LL for it.

Same thing would be true if you were going to hop to Epcot on a busy day and wanted to do Remy. Remy would be gone well before 10:05.

Only Slinky and Remy go fast enough to be possible considerations for a stacking plan of action.

 

[Anna131517]

You can try that but by 10 am SDD might be out of genie+ times for the day. I think this strategy works best if you start in a park that doesn’t really need Genie+ like EP or AK, rope drop it, and then hop to HS or MK. It makes for a long day though! I really think stacking works best when you’re just doing one park and plan on going late.

 

[accm]

Like others have said, its unlikely that SDD will still be available at 10am. What I personally would do in your case is book SDD at 7 (if its not too busy when you're there, you might have to try a few times until it gets to a 2pm return time), then at 10:30 book either space mountain, or another ride at HS depending on whats available when.

 

[Mome Rath]

That strategy makes sense, unless (1) it is a very busy day, and (2) you want to do Slinky Dog. On a busy day, Slinky will be gone well before 10:05, so you would sacrifice doing LL for it.

Same thing would be true if you were going to hop to Epcot on a busy day and wanted to do Remy. Remy would be gone well before 10:05.

Only Slinky and Remy go fast enough to be possible considerations for a stacking plan of action.

This. So, for example, one morning at 7 I grabbed 2 ILL$ and by the time I was done with that (which I did rapidly), Slinky was at 7 something pm already. And, that was at an average crowd level.

 

[teach22180]

This. So, for example, one morning at 7 I grabbed 2 ILL$ and by the time I was done with that (which I did rapidly), Slinky was at 7 something pm already. And, that was at an average crowd level.

A hint after a 2 week recent trip, always grab VQs first, then genie + rides and THEN individual lightning Lanes. Unless you need the ILL super early, it's almost always available.

 

[tofubeast]

Remember you can have more than one person trying on their phones too (MDE app) so long as you are all linked together.

DHS is the most frustrating when it comes to genie. I highly recommend using GENIE solely for that park and just enjoying rope drop and lower morning crowds at MK. Assuming you are staying onsite with the half hour opening advantage, just aim for Space Mtn.

But if you do want to use a genie at MK --- consider getting into Slinky standby lane right before the park closes. You can also consider single rider for Mil. Falcon. That would alleviate two genies you might be trying for at DHS. Also, keep checking as sometimes genies that appear gone can somehow come back!

 

[Mome Rath]

A hint after a 2 week recent trip, always grab VQs first, then genie + rides and THEN individual lightning Lanes. Unless you need the ILL super early, it's almost always available.

Yes, that usually works unless you need a very specific time, which when hopping and dining ressies and a short trip combine, it's always better to grab the must do's in their "must spots." lol

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Just something to keep in mind with regard to the strategy to book G+/LL in a park you plan to hop to later. You cannot book a LL through G+ in another park until the return time for that attraction has already reached 2PM. That can complicate timing a bit. Some of the attractions (like SDD) will have time windows that move quickly. Other attractions won't be available (in this scenario) until much later in the morning.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I'm going to go against the grain here...

Generally speaking, a better strategy is to start at HS then hop to MK. By mid-day, everything decent is already gone at HS. the only exception would be if you have late-night tickets for HS.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

That strategy makes sense, unless (1) it is a very busy day, and (2) you want to do Slinky Dog. On a busy day, Slinky will be gone well before 10:05, so you would sacrifice doing LL for it.

Same thing would be true if you were going to hop to Epcot on a busy day and wanted to do Remy. Remy would be gone well before 10:05.

Only Slinky and Remy go fast enough to be possible considerations for a stacking plan of action.

OP could still ride Slinky. They probably can't get a G+ pass for it, but they could still ride it.

 

[g-dad66]

OP could still ride Slinky. They probably can't get a G+ pass for it, but they could still ride it.

True.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

True.

My apologies, I wasn't trying to be obnoxious by pointing out the obvious.

I tend to see touring WDW as a kind of game, and partly it is game of chance. You roll the dice and sometimes the odds fall in our favor. (Sometimes they don't.)

Sometimes when touring WDW, I (me personally) take a sacrifice in order to come out ahead in some other way.

I might be willing to sacrifice Slinky. or suck it up and wait in the standby for that one attraction.

 

[JackStraw]

I appreciate the insight and suggestions all of you have taken the time to generously share with me! I am also relieved that I seem to actually understand this system!

It sounds like the example I used (MK Morning and HS Evening w/ stack) drew a flag on the play bc I suggested U wouldn't be able to book Slinky until I tapped into my g+ LL at MK at 10am by which time Slinky returns would be long gone (ditto Remy if I were to hop and stack Epcot). Understood! It seems like the workaround would be to g+ LL either Peter Pan or Jungle Cruse before 9:30. Even at that early hour, the standby lines might be an hour for either (as they were today at 9:15) so good to maybe knock one out with a g+ early enough to potentially tap in and still nail down a decent evening return for Slinky or Remy. Not a lock, but backing it all up by 30-45 min so I am trying to start my stack in the 9-9:30 hour rather than 10am might make a big difference. Just thinking out loud. At any rate, thx again folks.

Oh - yes, I totally get why it is better to start somewhere else and then stack somewhere else, too, but my circumstances this Sunday don't allow for that so ... (shrug).

 

[JenniferParker]

When I was there in Feb, I did MK in the morning and HS park hop after 2pm. I did the Early Entry at MK for Space Mtn (but you can do it at Rope Drop easily), so it left my Genie+ stacking options open for my afternoon/evening at HS.

 

[g-dad66]

My apologies, I wasn't trying to be obnoxious by pointing out the obvious.

I tend to see touring WDW as a kind of game, and partly it is game of chance. You roll the dice and sometimes the odds fall in our favor. (Sometimes they don't.)

Sometimes when touring WDW, I (me personally) take a sacrifice in order to come out ahead in some other way.

I might be willing to sacrifice Slinky. or suck it up and wait in the standby for that one attraction.

Didn't come across as obnoxious at all. I didn't word my original posting as clearly as I should have, and I appreciate you clarifying it.

 

[MinnierellaMama]

OP I think your original strategy makes the most sense. As others have said you may or may not get slinky but you could always ride it standby later in the evening with less of a wait. We were just there this past week and while I had G+ for slinky, the wait times went way down during fantasmic (45 min at one point) which isn’t too bad! In my experience it pays to be ahead of that 11,1,3 schedule. Most people are trying for their G+ at those times so it’s a cluster and you won’t get the best returns. If you can time it so that you can ride your first early in the day and then stay ahead of those booking windows — that’s a win IMO. My family does spring break crowds every year and that strategy has saved us.

 

[squirk]

Absolutely nothing against anyone or anything said in this thread, but the fact that we have to have this kind of discussion to use G+ effectively just highlights what a miserable system it is.

 

[nolatravelgirl]

It seems like the workaround would be to g+ LL either Peter Pan or Jungle Cruse before 9:30. Even at that early hour, the standby lines might be an hour for either (as they were today at 9:15) so good to maybe knock one out with a g+ early enough to potentially tap in and still nail down a decent evening return for Slinky or Remy. Not a lock, but backing it all up by 30-45 min so I am trying to start my stack in the 9-9:30 hour rather than 10am might make a big difference. Just thinking out loud. At any rate, thx again folks.

i think you are wishful thinking that you are guaranteed to get an early return time for PP or JC. I was right on at 7am and my return time for PP was 1:45pm. If you are trying to book any in demand ride first thing in the morning you should assume that you are always going to need to invoke the 120 minute rule.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

. We were just there this past week and while I had G+ for slinky, the wait times went way down during fantasmic (45 min at one point) which isn’t too bad! In my experience it pays to be ahead of that 11,1,3 schedule. Most people are trying for their G+ at those times so it’s a cluster and you won’t get the best returns. If you can time it so that you can ride your first early in the day and then stay ahead of those booking windows — that’s a win IMO. My family does spring break crowds every year and that strategy has saved us.

Just back, this past week was a bit more brutal in general, though I can't speak to HS late hours, as we left the park about 3pm. At 3pm, HS was very packed.

On our last day, G+ availability in MK was pretty limited much of the day. I was able to bump our first pass, JC to 10:30am, but that was it. At 10:26, return times were bumped out pretty far for everything.

Before that though, we were just about 1st in line for BTMRR, so that was good. (back of 2nd train to leave the station of the day.) By the time we got off, BTMRR line was backed WAAAYYY out back to Pecos Bill's. From there, we opted to do HM, which was just about no wait.

Our next G+ pass was supposed to be SM, the best return I could get was 12:50pm. Refreshing didn't do much of anything. Times just got worse. by 11:20am, return times were out to almost 4pm.Then SM went down around 11am, and stayed offline until after 1pm.

Luckily we had BG 18 for Tron.

Oh, an odd thing happened later in the day. There were no G+ for SM for a bit, and no BTMRR, then some came back online for the PM hours. I was able to get SM for 10pm. Around 4pm, we used our anytime pass to ride SM, or so we thought.

A little while later though, we saw that we were eligible to book our next G+! That's when we realized that we had somehow 'used' the 10pm G+ SM pass. (at 4pm) It took us a little while to realize we still had our anytime pass.