Workaround for the park hopping restriction/reservation system?

[scrappinginontario]

Another question...with a 5 day ticket, are you limited to 5 reservations? We will be there 8 full days. Could I make park reservations for all 8 days and then adjust as needed? Or will it limit me to only making 5 reservations at a time?

5 day ticket = 5 park reservations can be made

Reading the 'Everything Park Reservations' thread would be beneficial as many of your questions will be answered there.

 

[DLgal]

Just a heads up that everyone who wishes to try for the 1PM drop must go to the park and tap in in order to be eligible for the 1PM drop

Yes, I understand that. My son doesn't have a medical condition or anything. He is just one of those people who always runs hot, and he has autism and sensory processing difficulties so he has a low threshold for being physically uncomfortable. He can handle a daytime trip to tap into a park, knowing we won't be staying at that time.

 

[DLgal]

5 day ticket = 5 park reservations can be made

Thank you.

I am also toying with the idea of buying military discount 8 day hoppers instead. They aren't much more expensive and will give us more flexibility and opportunities to go to the parks. Last trip, we used 10 day tickets and went into the parks for a couple hours every evening and it was nice and relaxed.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Yes, I understand that. My son doesn't have a medical condition or anything. He is just one of those people who always runs hot, and he has autism and sensory processing difficulties so he has a low threshold for being physically uncomfortable. He can handle a daytime trip to tap into a park, knowing we won't be staying at that time.

Not sure what this has to do with my response??

 

[DLgal]

Not sure what this has to do with my response??

You pointed out that everyone has to scan in, as though that would be an obstacle.

 

[nalabear]

Data point; been testing out the reservation system as similar issues staying at Yacht Club next month for the week. Have made daily MK reservations for the week with anticipation of trying for VQ Tron.

Been able to try for VQ and then switch over to Epcot reservation shortly afterwards. So if you miss VQ Tron; you can switch to Epcot (if available) the same day and tap in over there for a 1pm VQ try at GOTG. Interestingly, the VQ for Tron stayed even after canceling the MK reservation. I wonder if there was a late group, it would still be valid if one hopped back to MK in the evening. -- wouldn't know, canceled the VQ.

Yes, ticket reservations count the number of days AND the actual ticket attached to the reservation -- so cannot reserve 8 days on a 5 day ticket.

 

[scrappinginontario]

You pointed out that everyone has to scan in, as though that would be an obstacle.

Your response was, 'I would tap in to Epcot mid morning to be able to do the second drop.' I was ensuring you knew everyone who wanted to ride needed to tap in.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

Data point; been testing out the reservation system as similar issues staying at Yacht Club next month for the week. Have made daily MK reservations for the week with anticipation of trying for VQ Tron.

Been able to try for VQ and then switch over to Epcot reservation shortly afterwards. So if you miss VQ Tron; you can switch to Epcot (if available) the same day and tap in over there for a 1pm VQ try at GOTG. Interestingly, the VQ for Tron stayed even after canceling the MK reservation. I wonder if there was a late group, it would still be valid if one hopped back to MK in the evening. -- wouldn't know, canceled the VQ.

Yes, ticket reservations count the number of days AND the actual ticket attached to the reservation -- so cannot reserve 8 days on a 5 day ticket.

Thanks for posting this - was actually wondering about this scenario this morning. I got a BG for Tron today at MK but was craving something at Epcot for lunch. Didn’t want to run the risk of losing the VQ spot for Tron, but it’s good to know for future reference.

 

[DLgal]

Data point; been testing out the reservation system as similar issues staying at Yacht Club next month for the week. Have made daily MK reservations for the week with anticipation of trying for VQ Tron.

Been able to try for VQ and then switch over to Epcot reservation shortly afterwards. So if you miss VQ Tron; you can switch to Epcot (if available) the same day and tap in over there for a 1pm VQ try at GOTG. Interestingly, the VQ for Tron stayed even after canceling the MK reservation. I wonder if there was a late group, it would still be valid if one hopped back to MK in the evening. -- wouldn't know, canceled the VQ.

Oooh. Interesting. That might be a good strategy. Although it would seem to require numerous 7am wakeups...

I don't anticipate any parks running out of park reservations during the time we are there, honestly. It's the tail end of July into the first week of August, when many kids will be starting up school. The massive discounts available at the hotels point to lower crowds.

 

[DLgal]

Thanks for posting this - was actually wondering about this scenario this morning. I got a BG for Tron today at MK but was craving something at Epcot for lunch. Didn’t want to run the risk of losing the VQ spot for Tron, but it’s good to know for future reference.

That is good to know!

 

[SleeplessInTO]

So, to address a few things:

Summer is not my ideal time to visit, but it's our only option this time. We will be visiting during cooler months after this trip, since my youngest will be graduated from HS in 2024. We need to go to Orlando for my kids to see their grandma, who is experiencing rapid mental and physical decline due to Parkinsons. This may be the last time they see her where she remembers them. I don't want to wait until the fall or winter.

We are not WDW newbies. We have been several times, most recently 2018 as a family over July 4 week. We tried the early morning thing. Was a disaster. It's not just the heat, but the sun. My son could NOT handle it. We had to leave MK by 10am because he was dying. Plus, my kids NEVER adjust to the jet lag, so they stay on CA time, and a 7am wakeup is NOT pretty at WDW. When we let them sleep on their natural schedule (1am to 10am FL time), we had a MUCH better time.

We will do the second daily drop for the VQ rides. I am not setting a 7am alarm on vacation.

We plan to spend the early part of the day in the hotel pool, Typhoon Lagoon, or having a nice sit down lunch or brunch somewhere. We will drive over to visit my parents and spend time at their house. My son is fine at the pools midday. As long as he is wet, he's good. He wears a quick dry hat even in the pool, to keep the sun out of his eyes.

We plan to hit the parks around 4-5pm and stay through closing. This worked well for us last time. We work around the afternoon storms.

We use a DAS, so pairing that with Genie+ will be good enough. We only ride a few things in each park. We skip most of the Disneyland duplicates where the WDW version is inferior. We also plan to do the Deluxe Resort evening extra magic hours, which will be perfect for our schedule. As an example, at HS, all we will do is Slinky Dog Dash, Tower of Terror, and Alien Swirling Saucers. At AK, all they want to do is Everest, Kali River Rapids, and maybe FOP.

We can do the walk from BC to International Gateway in 5 minutes. We are fast walkers. Running over there to tap in after breakfast, before we hit the pools or whatever, will NOT be a burden. It will then free us up to visit whatever park we decide on that day.

We will be spending most of our time at Epcot and MK. Even with only doing evenings, we like the park hopper when staying at BC for the ability to walk into Epcot anytime and grab a snack or drink. I will often do this during the day while the kids are hanging out in the room or at the pool.

We are using the military armed forces salute hoppers. They are CHEAP. There is no non hopper version. It's $366 for a 5 day hopper. Adding on water parks raises the price to $396. It's a no brainer.

Your plan should work fine. I would suggest getting the DAS Advance Selections too.

 

[Anthony1971]

IMO a lot depends on the park you are going to as far as how hot..... AK I would say is in early morning park -I understand the time difference- I loved it when they opened at 8am and hopping anytime we were gone by 10am and moving on.....MK is hot no matter what time of day for the next reasons-- EPCOT it is easy to stay relatively cool as all attractions and most lined are indoors even walking around world showcase although it does seem to cool off after 4- maybe the lake- HS it depends on the lines as some are covered-indoors but for us in the middle as far as heat. Did I already mention how hot MK is. and packed.... On a side note there are hot weeks and cooler weeks been in July where the entire week was in the very low 80s with a nice breeze. August where is was in the mid 90's all week.

 

[DLgal]

IMO a lot depends on the park you are going to as far as how hot..... AK I would say is in early morning park -I understand the time difference- I loved it when they opened at 8am and hopping anytime we were gone by 10am and moving on.....MK is hot no matter what time of day for the next reasons-- EPCOT it is easy to stay relatively cool as all attractions and most lined are indoors even walking around world showcase although it does seem to cool off after 4- maybe the lake- HS it depends on the lines as some are covered-indoors but for us in the middle as far as heat. Did I already mention how hot MK is. and packed.... On a side note there are hot weeks and cooler weeks been in July where the entire week was in the very low 80s with a nice breeze. August where is was in the mid 90's all week.

Yeah, this was our experience last trip. We had to bail out at MK. It was just too much. This was also day 1 of our trip and we recalibrated quickly.

I took the kids in early August 2016 and I swear it was SO nice. It was overcast and breezy the whole week. Low 80s. Low humidity. Only rained once. We were in the parks all day that trip. Was unexpected, but appreciated. We only did MK and Epcot that trip. I know summer weather is always a crap shoot.

 

[lanejudy]

Your plan should work fine. I would suggest getting the DAS Advance Selections too.

DAS Advanced Selections can only be made for the park with a theme park reservation. They won't be much help to OP if her family doesn't actually visit the park with a reservation most days/nights.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

DAS Advanced Selections can only be made for the park with a theme park reservation. They won't be much help to OP if her family doesn't actually visit the park with a reservation most days/nights.

Yes, DAS Advanced Selections can be made for the park that you have a theme park reservation for at the time that you chat with the CM. Agree that if the OP and family don’t visit that park, the selections won’t be of use. But at least there’s a 1/4 chance the evening selections will be helpful. And may tip the scales in favour of visiting that park that night.

 

[DLgal]

Yes, DAS Advanced Selections can be made for the park that you have a theme park reservation for at the time that you chat with the CM. Agree that if the OP and family don’t visit that park, the selections won’t be of use. But at least there’s a 1/4 chance the evening selections will be helpful. And may tip the scales in favour of visiting that park that night.

Aren't there some rides you can't make advance selections for? I thought that was a thing. Like, can we actually make them for Slinky Dog Dash, Seven Dwarfs Mine train? Those would honestly be the only ones I'd bother with since the other "must do" rides are either easy to get on with regular DAS or VQ/ILL rides.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

Aren't there some rides you can't make advance selections for? I thought that was a thing. Like, can we actually make them for Slinky Dog Dash, Seven Dwarfs Mine train? Those would honestly be the only ones I'd bother with since the other "must do" rides are either easy to get on with regular DAS or VQ/ILL rides.

You can’t select Mine Train but you can select Slinky. There is a list for each park: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/f...lities/attractions-available-for-das-advance/

 

[kwdw]

1) Given you have 8 full days there, I would buy the 8 day ticket you mentioned.
2) Even though the parks are still HOT at 4-6 pm - I do understand the strategy of arriving then. The shadows/shade are more prominent late afternoon, humidity tends to be lower than morning, and the day gets cooler as you are there, not warmer. It's a strategy I've used in August for surviving the heat.
3) I would suggest just planning your parks and not worrying about tapping in at Epcot earlier. TWO days of your trip you need to really focus on getting Tron and GOTG. That's it. Either buy the ILL or plan on getting to the park before 1 pm for the second VQ drop.
4) There are ways to escape the heat for a couple hours at EVERY park mid-day - so keep that in mind. Do a table service meal, head to those longer inside attractions - its doable. It's not going to get you on the top rides peak mid-day with that approach - but you can stay cooler and save the running around the park for after dinner when the sun is lower.
5) Are you at a deluxe hotel? You mentioned tapping in at Epcot so I think you are. If so - really plan to use those extended evening hours! Well worth it.
6) If you don't have to hit every ride - if you do things like try to hit rides during things like fireworks and really plan to max out the end of the day - you can likely get alot in even if you don't buy Genie

 

[DLgal]

1) Given you have 8 full days there, I would buy the 8 day ticket you mentioned.
2) Even though the parks are still HOT at 4-6 pm - I do understand the strategy of arriving then. The shadows/shade are more prominent late afternoon, humidity tends to be lower than morning, and the day gets cooler as you are there, not warmer. It's a strategy I've used in August for surviving the heat.
3) I would suggest just planning your parks and not worrying about tapping in at Epcot earlier. TWO days of your trip you need to really focus on getting Tron and GOTG. That's it. Either buy the ILL or plan on getting to the park before 1 pm for the second VQ drop.
4) There are ways to escape the heat for a couple hours at EVERY park mid-day - so keep that in mind. Do a table service meal, head to those longer inside attractions - its doable. It's not going to get you on the top rides peak mid-day with that approach - but you can stay cooler and save the running around the park for after dinner when the sun is lower.
5) Are you at a deluxe hotel? You mentioned tapping in at Epcot so I think you are. If so - really plan to use those extended evening hours! Well worth it.
6) If you don't have to hit every ride - if you do things like try to hit rides during things like fireworks and really plan to max out the end of the day - you can likely get alot in even if you don't buy Genie

Thanks. Good feedback!

We REALLY don't need to be in the parks more than 4-5 hours per day. These kids go to Disneyland practically every week. We should just move in at this point.

This trip is to focus on the new rides and fireworks shows since we last visited in 2018, minus things like Star Wars land and MMRR (as we have those here). Really, all they want to do are these rides:

MK:
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Tron
Space Mountain (only because they have never been on WDWs version)
CoP
TTA Peoplemover

Epcot:
Test Track
Guardians
Frozen
Ratatouille
Mission Space
Spaceship Earth

HS:
Slinky Dog
Alien Swirling Saucers
Tower of Terror

AK:
Everest
FOP

Literally ANYTHING else we do is a bonus. They have been to WDW a few times and we absolutely do NOT need to maximize the amount of rides we do. They are the type that like to repeat rides so I'm guessing we will spend the week riding these favorites over and over.

We will definitely be doing 2 MK extra magic evening hours and one Epcot. We are staying at Beach Club specifically for this benefit. Our arrival day is a Tuesday and we leave the following Thursday so that gives us 2 Wednesdays and 1 Monday for the evening hours.

We like plenty of pool time and will also be visiting Typhoon Lagoon since the tickets waterpark add on is only $30. Along with visiting my parents a few days, we will have plenty to keep us busy during the earlier part of the day.

I am leaning towards the 8 day ticket at this point, especially since I basically ended up getting my airfare for free by signing up for a Delta Amex Platinum while booking our flights today. Had a nice 90,000 point bonus, a $400 airfare credit, and I had a credit from travel in 2021 that got cancelled due to covid. So, seems like a worthy upgrade to get the 8 day tickets. They are still significantly discounted from WDWs gate price too.

 

[DLgal]

You can’t select Mine Train but you can select Slinky. There is a list for each park: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/f...lities/attractions-available-for-das-advance/

Well, thanks for that. Advance selections will be useless for us at AK and MK, but good for Epcot and HS, so that is good to know.