Would not have survived Thanksgiving Week without these boards! The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

[HappyFairydust]

We only did it for HS, but we got there just before 7:30am. What really helped us was them starting the queue for ROTR well before the 8:30am early entry. Whether they did that just because crowds were insane that week or if that's normal SOP, I don't know.

Thank you!!!
I was hoping (having two small kiddos and a non-early-riser husband) that I can be there 30min before early entry opening and still get a decent chance of riding some „top tier rides“ with decent wait times

Also, did you see any photographers throughout the parks? I purchased the memory maker to get some nice family pictures but haven‘t seen much posts about it. Only reading some older posts that there are „fewer“ or „none“ photographers…

 

[JakeAZ]

Thank you!!!
I was hoping (having two small kiddos and a non-early-riser husband) that I can be there 30min before early entry opening and still get a decent chance of riding some „top tier rides“ with decent wait times

Also, did you see any photographers throughout the parks? I purchased the memory maker to get some nice family pictures but haven‘t seen much posts about it. Only reading some older posts that there are „fewer“ or „none“ photographers…

We did memory maker too. Lots of photographers at each park’s entrance and hub. Also quite a few in Galaxy’s Edge / Toy Story Land. We also did a “capture your moment at MK and I would highly recommend that, if it’s in the budget and you can get a time.

 

[HappyFairydust]

We did memory maker too. Lots of photographers at each park’s entrance and hub. Also quite a few in Galaxy’s Edge / Toy Story Land. We also did a “capture your moment at MK and I would highly recommend that, if it’s in the budget and you can get a time.

didn‘t know about this „capture your moment“ and everything was sold out during our trip dates but thanks for this information! Maybe next time great to hear that there are photographers throughout the parks!

 

[shh]

great trip report, OP. Enjoyed following along.

 

[TammyLynn33]

I really appreciate ur posting ur recent experience OP.

I’m booked for 3rd week Jan and Very on the fence to cancel.

I m curious on crowd levels ( had hoped it was rather Off Season). and IF there will be even more restrictions/changes with the latest COVID Variant, which undoubtedly will arrive here in Fla ( it’s now in Canada) so many Canadians here in my Own neighborhood… just adds to the craziness.

I would hazard a guess it’s also in the US and worldwide already and just hasn’t been detected. It was detected in Canada in two travellers from Nigeria. The Cdn government is conducting contact tracing and having anyone in contact with those affected to immediate isolate. If you are told to isolate there are huge fines, if you don’t comply.
Our numbers have been decent, public health has been quick to impose restrictions ( where I live currently it’s a 5k fine for hosting more than 10 in your household including your own family members ) and our vax rates are higher than most countries. I don’t know if I’d be worried about the “the many Canadians in your neighbourhood “
Stay safe
Signed
A triple vaxxed, mask wearing Canadian Nurse .

[/QUOTE]

 

[iwannabdduck]

It is VERY expensive and everywhere you turn, there is an another opportunity to spend more money. You never really feel like you've spent enough and I didn't enjoy that feeling at all.

So sad to read this, but also appreciative to know that I am not the only one who feels this way. My wife and I just cancelled an upcoming reservation we had for the 1st week of February at CS Tower. It was the cost, AND Disney's increasingly numerous hassle factors. We finally got honest with each other and agreed that as much as we like to go to WDW, it is not worth the amount of money we would spend. Even staying at a moderate resort, our budget was approaching $1,000/day once all travel, food and ticket pricing was factored in.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

The worst part for me is the 7am thing. I am not a morning person. I wish they would just go back to the old original FP system where you could start pulling them when the park opened. What is the point of making everyone log on at 7am?? How does that help Disney or the guest?

 

[JakeAZ]

Disney's increasingly numerous hassle factors

This.

It shouldn't be this hard to have a good time while spending that kind of money

 

[jimmymc]

Great report! The deluxe hotels including Express Pass at UO is the ultimate cheat code for Orlando vacations. You get an amazing hotel and quick access to everything for the same price as most Disney deluxes.

 

[jecarnl]

Thanks for the review. All of the changes have us considering not going back as well. That sucks....

 

[Jrb1979]

Way too many Disney Resort guests to give away Express Pass access to attractions. Are you suggesting Disney sell passes like Universal? At $200+ a day/person? Disney guests often stay a week or more making that impossibly expensive whereas Universal guests rarely stay more than a couple days. (Yes, with another gate opening that will change in the future).

The problem is there isn't enough attractions for Genie+ to work with everyone having access to it. They only solution is to limit how many can buy Genie+. This past week showed that when it's busy and many have Genie+ you're lucky to get 1-2 rides a day. They need to price some people out of buying it. That's part of why Universal prices Express so high.

 

[JakeAZ]

The problem is there isn't enough attractions for Genie+ to work with everyone having access to it. They only solution is to limit how many can buy Genie+. This past week showed that when it's busy and many have Genie+ you're lucky to get 1-2 rides a day. They need to price some people out of buying it. That's part of why Universal prices Express so high.

Good point, BUT, I wouldn't pay EP type pricing for something like Genie+. Genie+ / IA$ are terrible programs. It's just all that is offered, outside of a VIP tour, so it's all we have to work with.

 

[buckeyegirl1]

We bought genie on Thanksgiving, I expected parks to be crazy, what I didn’t expect was to get one fast pass in before we left for the day. We hopped so I was able to book a few more later but if we hadn’t we probably would’ve gotten one. Everything was pretty much gone by 11:00.

 

[Scalemaster34]

The problem is there isn't enough attractions for Genie+ to work with everyone having access to it. They only solution is to limit how many can buy Genie+. This past week showed that when it's busy and many have Genie+ you're lucky to get 1-2 rides a day. They need to price some people out of buying it. That's part of why Universal prices Express so high.

The solution is what Universal is doing.... adding an additional gate with more attractions.

 

[Jrb1979]

The solution is what Universal is doing.... adding an additional gate with more attractions.

That's not happening anytime soon if ever.

 

[disneyseniors]

We're going to do something similar this January and I'm expecting we won't spend a lot on G+ (even though it's just two of us). We're also staying at Universal for the first time at the Royal Pacific as well and see how being able to casually go through the parks is. I've had Express pass before and loved it but I agree that it's really expensive but Universal has the rides more concentrated in fewer parks than Disney.

Hi Will C: We also stay at RPR at Universal and we loved it! You also have EP's included in your reservation cost, so no extra cost to you! It's hard to explain, but the hotel staff treat you like they actually want you there and value you. Imagine that! As far as EP's, we loved them, even when it wasn't very crowded. You can do whatever you want to do (eat, ride, etc) when you want to at Universal. There's no stress trying to get to ADRs or the crazy genie system failure. It's very freeing to just wander around and stop when you see something you want to do, or a store, or somewhere to eat.
I know you will enjoy feeling the way you are supposed to while on a vacation: stress free

 

[JakeAZ]

Looking back, the Express Pass at Universal is always mentioned for how to get on rides quickly, but another major benefit is it lets you enjoy the parks. We really took our time through Diagon Alley / Hogsmeade. Checked out the details, went into the shops, enjoyed the treats, did the spells and even sat down to just people watch. We knew we could jump into a line whenever we wanted. We didn't have to try to hit all these 1-hour windows. It feels more like a checklist at Disney. It was great burning through GE and Toy Story land by 10:30am on our early entry day, but I would have preferred to do those rides at night with everything all lit up. That, however, really is impossible from a wait time standpoint.

It comes down to being in control of your time. Universal gives you that opportunity. Disney doesn't. Even with a Disney VIP tour, you aren't in control of your time. You're up against a clock, so you're trying to do as much as possible, as quickly as possible.

 

[jrsharp21]

Thanks for the review. All of the changes have us considering not going back as well. That sucks....

We are pretty much on that fence also. We will see how it goes with our trip in January. If we find it to be just too much of a hassle to do WDW anymore, we will probably head elsewhere in the future. We have been meaning to head back to Pigeon Forge and Dollywood. Now may be the right time. Much cheaper and less stressful. Also Branson, MO and Silver Dollar City. Obviously not on the scale of WDW, but definitely more of a relaxing vacation.

 

[jimmymc]

Looking back, the Express Pass at Universal is always mentioned for how to get on rides quickly, but another major benefit is it lets you enjoy the parks. We really took our time through Diagon Alley / Hogsmeade. Checked out the details, went into the shops, enjoyed the treats, did the spells and even sat down to just people watch. We knew we could jump into a line whenever we wanted. We didn't have to try to hit all these 1-hour windows. It feels more like a checklist at Disney. It was great burning through GE and Toy Story land by 10:30am on our early entry day, but I would have preferred to do those rides at night with everything all lit up. That, however, really is impossible from a wait time standpoint.

It comes down to being in control of your time. Universal gives you that opportunity. Disney doesn't. Even with a Disney VIP tour, you aren't in control of your time. You're up against a clock, so you're trying to do as much as possible, as quickly as possible.

I totally agree. You can check out every shop in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, get on some older rides you might normally skip, and grab a meal at City Walk. It also lets you use your rope drop time for Velocicoaster.

 

[Jrb1979]

I totally agree. You can check out every shop in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, get on some older rides you might normally skip, and grab a meal at City Walk. It also lets you use your rope drop time for Velocicoaster.

The biggest thing is that it's priced high enough that most don't buy it. Less people that have it the better the system works.