All Things Disney Parks - Rides, Merch, News, and everything else

[Dynaman]

2 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Well, about to be the slowest....the slowest times are in September thru Thanksgiving...and then right after the Christmas holidays thru February....before we had kids we'd go right before Thanksgiving

That has changed due to Disney park price policies and how they ramp up for Halloween.  It is less crowded the last week or so in August and the First week in September, except for Labor Day and the weekends of course.  

[jvmacross]

3 hours ago, Dynaman said:

That has changed due to Disney park price policies and how they ramp up for Halloween.  It is less crowded the last week or so in August and the First week in September, except for Labor Day and the weekends of course.  

The pandemic has actually changed everything...there really is no way to predict much of anything these days.....Halloween has been a thing at the park for years so that hasn't changed and yes, things start slowing down about now, but is really isn't historically the slowest time...among the slowest yeah, like you said, most families are traditionally starting to gear up for school so that is expected

[TangledThorns]

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  • All promo codes valid on flight + hotel and flight + cruise packages

 

[Dynaman]

The Youtube ad blurb for the Galactic Starcruiser went so well they yanked if off the new already...

Since the thing was out of my price range anyway I was not going to go, seeing (some) of that video let me know that I would not be missing out on anything.  Maybe if the stay was a quarter the price I would try it even with the lame presentation but not a chance at the current pricing.   So THANKS! Disney, you made that one an easy pass.

[TangledThorns]

22 hours ago, Dynaman said:

The Youtube ad blurb for the Galactic Starcruiser went so well they yanked if off the new already...

Since the thing was out of my price range anyway I was not going to go, seeing (some) of that video let me know that I would not be missing out on anything.  Maybe if the stay was a quarter the price I would try it even with the lame presentation but not a chance at the current pricing.   So THANKS! Disney, you made that one an easy pass.

STAR WARS for the 1%. WTFG Disney!

[Dynaman]

Went to the parks the last three days.  It is as packed as 2019 or before would be for the day.  No excuse not to have everything up and running now.  Besides masks indoors there is no covid related measures in place any longer either.

[jvmacross]

58 minutes ago, Dynaman said:

Went to the parks the last three days.  It is as packed as 2019 or before would be for the day.  No excuse not to have everything up and running now.  Besides masks indoors there is no covid related measures in place any longer either.

Did you wing it....or did you get a chance to use their new "pay to play" system?

 

Costco had a great deal for the Dolphin....plus they get to partake in the evening extended hours so went for it

[Dynaman]

20 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Did you wing it....or did you get a chance to use their new "pay to play" system?

I used the Genie+ on the first day at Animal Kingdom.  I got one ride (the Safari) that otherwise would have been a 45 minute wait.  Even that was not available till 2pm when I set it up around 10am.  The next couple days I did not try and use it.  Hollywood Studios I went right for the line for Runaway Railway and it was a 30 minute wait, Slinky was a 45 minute wait, Muppets no wait (criminally under-rated but works for me!), and Star Tours a 20 minute wait.  Then off to Epcot for Soarin (30 min I think) and the Golf Ball (10 min).  

At Magic Kingdom I got on Haunted Mansion at rope drop (so call it a 30 min wait), Pirates in 30 min, Peter Pan in under 10 (sign said 55...), Barnstormer nearly a walk on, People Mover under 10, and Seven Dwarves at 60 min.  Started home at 1230 or so - the park was getting CROWDED at that point and we were ready to go.

 

So as a sum up, I would use Genie+ only for a particular big ride, when I go back in January I will probably use it for Remy at Epcot and Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios and that is it.

[jvmacross]

1 hour ago, Dynaman said:

I used the Genie+ on the first day at Animal Kingdom.  I got one ride (the Safari) that otherwise would have been a 45 minute wait.  Even that was not available till 2pm when I set it up around 10am.  The next couple days I did not try and use it.  Hollywood Studios I went right for the line for Runaway Railway and it was a 30 minute wait, Slinky was a 45 minute wait, Muppets no wait (criminally under-rated but works for me!), and Star Tours a 20 minute wait.  Then off to Epcot for Soarin (30 min I think) and the Golf Ball (10 min).  

At Magic Kingdom I got on Haunted Mansion at rope drop (so call it a 30 min wait), Pirates in 30 min, Peter Pan in under 10 (sign said 55...), Barnstormer nearly a walk on, People Mover under 10, and Seven Dwarves at 60 min.  Started home at 1230 or so - the park was getting CROWDED at that point and we were ready to go.

 

So as a sum up, I would use Genie+ only for a particular big ride, when I go back in January I will probably use it for Remy at Epcot and Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios and that is it.

Yeah, that's what I have been reading....looks like you can get on most of the "older" rides in 30 min or less.....but when you used the Genie +...did you use it for a paid or unpaid "lightning" entry? 

Also, I've been reading that, like ROTR, most of the "paid" lightning passes for the newer rides have been sold out before the park even opens....but as you have indicated.....it seems you can simply get on the stand-by line and wait the 60+ minutes as has always been the case even during the "old" Fastpass days.........not exactly sure why so many are complaining about Genie+....I'm guessing maybe becuase the thought of "paying" to get on a ride is problematic to some.....personally, as someone who only can go to WDW 1-2 times a year at most....I appreciate the ability to "guarantee" that my group can ride the newest stuff while I am there...even if it may cost a few extra bucks do accomplish that and TBH, it will always just be the 2-3 newest rides everytime you visit for a few years until they get replaced by newer rides....like the upcoming Tron ride!

[Dynaman]

If you only go once a year and WANT to get on certain rides I would suggest staying at a Disney hotel that allows selecting the first ride at 7am.  That is how you have the best shot at getting certain rides.  When I was there the individual Lightning Lanes for all the big rides still had slots open after the parks opened but I did not even look at RotR so don't know about that one, the regular line for it was 120 min or less so if you want to wait it should be possible to get on.  It was the rides that were still higher tier but on the regular Lightning Lane (15 a day at Disney World) that ran out fairly quickly.  So pick one of those early in the day as well (at 7 if possible).  

FastPass used to be free so people are complaining that it is now $15 a day (plus the individual rides).  Yes, the big 2 (or 3) rides at each park are the ones that are hardest to get.  With the exception of RotR and Magic Kingdom (with more rides then any other park by a fair margin) I think you could get in all the rides at each park as long without Lightning lane as long as you don't go on Christmas week or Easter week.  

[jvmacross]

Yeah...that's the issue.....When I went in June, I was able to get onto the "virtual queue" for ROTR each of the 3 days I visited HS....granted, just like now under Genie +, you had to book the rides at 7am on the dot.....it's like Disney PO Madness!

Also, a big tip is to just get in the stand-by line to ROTR, Slinky Dog, Dwarf Minecarts...or whatever ride you were not able to secure a "lightning" pass for that day at the end of the night...you can literally get in line with 1 minute left to park close and you will get to ride it......it's a great last resort, especially if you have no plans on returning to the specific park you were not able to secure a lightning pass for....the only issue would be if the ride breaks down, which I hear happens quite a bit for ROTR

 

[Dynaman]

Not exactly the park but a darned incredible recreation in Minecraft.  Since I have a quest I'll be giving this a try.

 

[jvmacross]

Disney will eventually create a hyper-real VR park experience and charge you at least half-the price of the real thing...which by then will be what they are charging now for park entry

[sh9000]

 

[jvmacross]

Just returned from WDW last week and wanted to thrown my 2 cents regarding my first experience under the Genie+ system...

I can't say I had a bad experience, but it was definitely more stressful, this will be the case for only the person doing all the ride and dining reservations as it will require you to be checking the "My Disney Experience" app "often" to get the most out of it....

I feel that the biggest difference between the old Fastpass and the new "Lightning Lane" ride reservation system comes at the 60 day mark before your visit even begins....

Under the Fastpass System, you were allowed to select the first THREE RIDES for your day at the park 60 days in advance...with Genie...you can only select 1 "free" ride and 2 "paid" rides on the actual day of your park visit beginning at 7am....this is what I feel is the worst part about the new system...I feel this ruins the ability to at least go into your day not worrying about being able to skip the lines for at least the first 3 rides....or worrying about what rides you want to "battle" with the thousands of other guests at 7am to try and snag....this is terrible.....if you have a crappy phone, staying at a hotel with bad wireless, or are not staying at a WDW affiliated hotel...you can forget about being able to snag any of the major rides at any of the parks...in fact, if you are staying at a non-Disney park, you may as well not even bother paying for the Genie+ services as practically all of the major rides (like Snow White minecarts, RotR, Avatar, etc) will sell out within 2-3 minutes at 7am, which is when WDW resort guests get first crack.  If staying at a non-WDW resort, you will need to wait in line, which at the time I was there last week, was at minimum 30-50 minutes for the 2nd/3rd tier rides through 4pm or so....1st tier rides stayed at 1.5hr+ through park close (between 9-11pm)....but there are a few tips I can share here....first, you can get into any 1st tier ride and wait 15-30 minutes max during the fireworks shows...if you don't care for fireworks, get in line at your 1st tier ride and you will ride it easily without the 1+ hour wait...in fact, you can probably ride it twice....but minutes before the fireworks shows are about to end...the wait times balloon back up quickly....the other tip is to simply wait until park close...make sure you are in line at closing time and you are guaranteed to ride....unless it breaks down!  This happens often with the RotR ride...so keep this in mind....

The other thing I feel has been ruined by "technology" is the ability to order food.....gone are the days of ordering food when you are actually hungry...now you have to "PO" your food and select the time to come back to pick it up.....if you do not, you run the risk of walking up to order at say noon and not getting your food until 1pm or later....so again, the spontaneity is more or less gone from a WDW trip....it has sort of been like that for a while for anyone who can only visit once or twice a year, but it just seems worse now...I lost track of how many people had no clue on how to use the Disney app or who were complaining about how they could never get reservations for dining or the newest rides....Disney has made using their "apps" essential to navigating their parks and being able to get the most bang for for buck during your stay....

As someone who is OK using apps, I was able to get the most out of our family trip to WDW, but I saw how other families struggled.......the other thing that was odd seeing on this trip were all the "guest experience" kiosks all over the park, usually, guest experience was located at the park entrances....there was always a line of at least 4-6 people at these kiosks.....

I think it would be simple to "fix" the problems with the new Genie system...Disney just needs to go back to allowing you to do more of the planning BEFORE you arrive at the parks, rather than forcing you to waste time on it while you are at the Parks, or rather 1-2 hours before the park opens on the day of your visit!.......Genie is basically the same other than this change (ok, the pay-to-play is also debatable, but I'm OK with it...at this stage of my life, time is worth more to me than the $7-15 fee per "individual lightning lane" ride, which was basically just 1 ride at each park)....with Fastpass, you would pick your first 3 and then pick all your remaining ride reservations at the park after using up the first 3 you took care of 60 days prior to your visit...Genie forces you to battle for your 1st three (1 free and total of 2 paid rides) at 7am on the day you are set to visit the park....this is a terrible way to start off your day of "fun"....planning should be done prior to arriving, not on the day you are there....to me this is the biggest problem with the new Genie system

One last tip....if you do buy the Genie+, do not assume a ride is not available just because it says so on the app....keep refreshing it and something "may" come up....again, this is part of what has made the new experience under Genie+ more stressful......however, it is sort of rewarding finding a ride available when you want it, rather than at 8pm when the apps says is the next available window to ride (again, this is only important if you only want to wait 10-15 minutes to ride any ride, rather than wait for hours)....

On this trip, my goal was to ride Splash Mountain multiple times for probably what will be the last time (have no plans on a second trip this year and not sure when Disney plans to shutdown Splash Mt for the makeover)....the new ride taking it's place will probably be mechanically the same, so in the grand scheme of things I guess the reboot really doesn't matter...Tron was still not ready and neither was the Guardians of the Galaxy ride....so as always, reasons to return will always be there....oh and the Epcot food and booze kiosks still delivered as always.....all in all, we all had a great time....it just involved a bit more stress than previous trips, which I think can be easily avoided by relegating the planning back to before you arrive, rather than when you are about to start your day...oh and yes, this game to snag ride reservations must be played each morning before you head into the park at 7am if you are staying at a Disney affiliated resort......if you are not, then I guess you are stuck with what you can get and/or waiting in hours long lines.....

 

[Podtastic]

12 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Just returned from WDW last week and wanted to thrown my 2 cents regarding my first experience under the Genie+ system...

I can't say I had a bad experience, but it was definitely more stressful, this will be the case for only the person doing all the ride and dining reservations as it will require you to be checking the "My Disney Experience" app "often" to get the most out of it....

I feel that the biggest difference between the old Fastpass and the new "Lightning Lane" ride reservation system comes at the 60 day mark before your visit even begins....

Under the Fastpass System, you were allowed to select the first THREE RIDES for your day at the park 60 days in advance...with Genie...you can only select 1 "free" ride and 2 "paid" rides on the actual day of your park visit beginning at 7am....this is what I feel is the worst part about the new system...I feel this ruins the ability to at least go into your day not worrying about being able to skip the lines for at least the first 3 rides....or worrying about what rides you want to "battle" with the thousands of other guests at 7am to try and snag....this is terrible.....if you have a crappy phone, staying at a hotel with bad wireless, or are not staying at a WDW affiliated hotel...you can forget about being able to snag any of the major rides at any of the parks...in fact, if you are staying at a non-Disney park, you may as well not even bother paying for the Genie+ services as practically all of the major rides (like Snow White minecarts, RotR, Avatar, etc) will sell out within 2-3 minutes at 7am, which is when WDW resort guests get first crack.  If staying at a non-WDW resort, you will need to wait in line, which at the time I was there last week, was at minimum 30-50 minutes for the 2nd/3rd tier rides through 4pm or so....1st tier rides stayed at 1.5hr+ through park close (between 9-11pm)....but there are a few tips I can share here....first, you can get into any 1st tier ride and wait 15-30 minutes max during the fireworks shows...if you don't care for fireworks, get in line at your 1st tier ride and you will ride it easily without the 1+ hour wait...in fact, you can probably ride it twice....but minutes before the fireworks shows are about to end...the wait times balloon back up quickly....the other tip is to simply wait until park close...make sure you are in line at closing time and you are guaranteed to ride....unless it breaks down!  This happens often with the RotR ride...so keep this in mind....

The other thing I feel has been ruined by "technology" is the ability to order food.....gone are the days of ordering food when you are actually hungry...now you have to "PO" your food and select the time to come back to pick it up.....if you do not, you run the risk of walking up to order at say noon and not getting your food until 1pm or later....so again, the spontaneity is more or less gone from a WDW trip....it has sort of been like that for a while for anyone who can only visit once or twice a year, but it just seems worse now...I lost track of how many people had no clue on how to use the Disney app or who were complaining about how they could never get reservations for dining or the newest rides....Disney has made using their "apps" essential to navigating their parks and being able to get the most bang for for buck during your stay....

As someone who is OK using apps, I was able to get the most out of our family trip to WDW, but I saw how other families struggled.......the other thing that was odd seeing on this trip were all the "guest experience" kiosks all over the park, usually, guest experience was located at the park entrances....there was always a line of at least 4-6 people at these kiosks.....

I think it would be simple to "fix" the problems with the new Genie system...Disney just needs to go back to allowing you to do more of the planning BEFORE you arrive at the parks, rather than forcing you to waste time on it while you are at the Parks, or rather 1-2 hours before the park opens on the day of your visit!.......Genie is basically the same other than this change (ok, the pay-to-play is also debatable, but I'm OK with it...at this stage of my life, time is worth more to me than the $7-15 fee per "individual lightning lane" ride, which was basically just 1 ride at each park)....with Fastpass, you would pick your first 3 and then pick all your remaining ride reservations at the park after using up the first 3 you took care of 60 days prior to your visit...Genie forces you to battle for your 1st three (1 free and total of 2 paid rides) at 7am on the day you are set to visit the park....this is a terrible way to start off your day of "fun"....planning should be done prior to arriving, not on the day you are there....to me this is the biggest problem with the new Genie system

One last tip....if you do buy the Genie+, do not assume a ride is not available just because it says so on the app....keep refreshing it and something "may" come up....again, this is part of what has made the new experience under Genie+ more stressful......however, it is sort of rewarding finding a ride available when you want it, rather than at 8pm when the apps says is the next available window to ride (again, this is only important if you only want to wait 10-15 minutes to ride any ride, rather than wait for hours)....

On this trip, my goal was to ride Splash Mountain multiple times for probably what will be the last time (have no plans on a second trip this year and not sure when Disney plans to shutdown Splash Mt for the makeover)....the new ride taking it's place will probably be mechanically the same, so in the grand scheme of things I guess the reboot really doesn't matter...Tron was still not ready and neither was the Guardians of the Galaxy ride....so as always, reasons to return will always be there....oh and the Epcot food and booze kiosks still delivered as always.....all in all, we all had a great time....it just involved a bit more stress than previous trips, which I think can be easily avoided by relegating the planning back to before you arrive, rather than when you are about to start your day...oh and yes, this game to snag ride reservations must be played each morning before you head into the park at 7am if you are staying at a Disney affiliated resort......if you are not, then I guess you are stuck with what you can get and/or waiting in hours long lines.....

 

It sounds horrible.

 

 

[TangledThorns]

Oh jeez. Sounds complicated. We're all set for our trip this September and got a CARS themed suite at WDW's Art of Animation resort. To save some extra money I'm keeping an eye out for deals on Disney gift cards that we can use at WDW for meals, souvenirs, etc. Just recently my Wells Fargo Visa credit card had a 10% cash back up to $5 for for Shop Disney so I got a $50 for $45 💲 I can also get Disney gift cards at my local supermarket with 6% cash back using my AE Blue Cash Preferred card.

Edited April 8, 2022 by TangledThorns

[Dynaman]

Disagree a bit on the food.  Food has ALWAYS been a pain in the butt to get at busy times.  The lines were a good half hour long and that was just to order.  With the new system you can still order and get the food at the next available slot - without waiting in line.  

I am not a fan of the new genie+ ride system but to be fair to it, all the popular rides under the old system required getting up at 7am 60 days out to reserve or you would not get on them.  Reserving a ride on the day with fastpass - well it just wasn't going to happen for anything that normally has a line to begin with.

[jvmacross]

6 hours ago, Podtastic said:

It sounds horrible.

 

 

It's basically like going through a PO Madness every morning at exactly 7:00:00 AM.....the slightest fumble and you are SOL....

What I found during this process is to just accept whatever time pops up as 9 out 10 times that is not the time you will get anyways....for example....my goal was to get my first ride at 9am for say Rise of the Resistance....that is the first time slot that pops up....if you waste time selecting a "specific" time, like say 11am or any other time...you are just wasting precious seconds and could end up with a return window for much later in the day, or worse....end up with nothing.....like I said....think PO Madness, that is basically the experience for the start of each morning.....

[jvmacross]

4 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

Oh jeez. Sounds complicated. We're all set for our trip this September and got a CARS themed suite at WDW's Art of Animation resort. To save some extra money I'm keeping an eye out for deals on Disney gift cards that we can use at WDW for meals, souvenirs, etc. Just recently my Wells Fargo Visa credit card had a 10% cash back up to $5 for for Shop Disney so I got a $50 for $45 💲 I can also get Disney gift cards at my local supermarket with 6% cash back using my AE Blue Cash Preferred card.

Just start watching some videos and you should be good....also, it helps if you have at least 2 people in your group trying to grab a ride reservation, especially for the 1st tier rides and the "pay-to-play" rides....make sure you are connected to the fastest source right before 7am.....oh and not sure if you are reserving any dining...if so, need to get up by 7am EST on the day you are 60 days out to have the best shot at securing what you really want......

Oh and don't get me started on the hacks to be able to carry 3 ride reservations at a certain point during your visit....usually you can only hold 1...again, you can read up on those hacks on youtube....

[TangledThorns]

12 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

Just start watching some videos and you should be good....also, it helps if you have at least 2 people in your group trying to grab a ride reservation, especially for the 1st tier rides and the "pay-to-play" rides....make sure you are connected to the fastest source right before 7am.....oh and not sure if you are reserving any dining...if so, need to get up by 7am EST on the day you are 60 days out to have the best shot at securing what you really want......

Oh and don't get me started on the hacks to be able to carry 3 ride reservations at a certain point during your visit....usually you can only hold 1...again, you can read up on those hacks on youtube....

Yeah, I think I'll need to study up on this. lol. Last time I was in WDW was in 2010. It'll be just me, wife and two young children. Though it's my cousin and maybe her older sons who live in Tampa will probably join us for one day.

[jvmacross]

2 hours ago, Dynaman said:

Disagree a bit on the food.  Food has ALWAYS been a pain in the butt to get at busy times.  The lines were a good half hour long and that was just to order.  With the new system you can still order and get the food at the next available slot - without waiting in line.  

I am not a fan of the new genie+ ride system but to be fair to it, all the popular rides under the old system required getting up at 7am 60 days out to reserve or you would not get on them.  Reserving a ride on the day with fastpass - well it just wasn't going to happen for anything that normally has a line to begin with.

I guess I am on the side where this had never been a concern until just recently.....I usually went with a "dining plan" and with that you were allowed to pick and choose what you wanted a full 90 days before your trip.....but disney dining plans have been gone since the pandemic started and disney has decided not to bring them back yet....again, I really think ALL of the planning should be done way before you set foot on Disney property.....granted, although there are no dining plans available now, you can still select your table restaurants 60 days prior to your visit, which is very helpful....and yes, you do have to still wake up at 7am EST exactly 60 days prior to your visit, but to me getting that out of the way far in advance is just one less thing to worry about.....although the park reservation process does add a bit to the logistics, as you will need to figure out which table restaurants to select based on where you will be (you could just pick reservations first then select your park reservations, but in doing so, you run the risk of the park you need to be at being "sold out" when you need it), rather than just selecting them first and then figuring out where you need to be on the days of your restaurant reservations.....again, to me, I prefer to do as much planning before you arrive to the parks and then just wing it once you arrive (as in the fast pass days)....with genie+, park reservations, and the pent up demand for access to the park combined with new limits on park attendance....it just all combines into a cluster-F never experienced before (outside of major Holidays, etc.)...

[jvmacross]

1 minute ago, TangledThorns said:

Yeah, I think I'll need to study up on this. lol. Last time I was in WDW was in 2010. It'll be just me, wife and two young children. Though it's my cousin and maybe her older sons who live in Tampa will probably join us for one day.

best to have them reserve the park ahead of time (assuming they will also buy their tickets at the same time) so you all are guaranteed to be able to meet up....I read stories where people waited too long and were not able to do this or had to cancel trips because they could not get everyone a park reservation on the day they needed it....also, before they commit to buy their tickets, make sure they check to see that the park you all intend to meet up at is actually available to reserve for that day....

The good thing is you are staying on Disney property so you will be able to book any "table/sit-down" restaurant 60 days prior to your visit.....if you plan on dining at any of these restaurants I strongly advise to determine what day marks your 60 days to your visit...on that day you can actually reserve your restaurant selections for the full duration of your trip, not just for the first day...so that helps alot

And in case you were wondering...these are the ones that book out quickly....if you are not interested in any of these...you should be able to get a reservation at most any restaurant at any of the parks....

Magic Kingdom:

Be Our Guest

Cinderella's Royal Table

Epcot:

Space 220

Le Celier -Canada

Teppan Edo - Japan

La Hacienda De San Angel - Mexico

Hollywood Studios:

Sci-Fi Drive In

Animal Kingdom:

Yak & Yeti

Disney Springs:

T-Rex

 

The goal is to reserve your "must haves" first and then go from there....if you are lucky and quick...you will get everything you want, if not, you can hopefully get most and then you will need to keep checking for the next week to see if anyone drops a reservation or you can check the days prior to your trip because that is when guests start dropping stuff because if you do not, Disney will charge you for a "no show"....

Good Luck!

 

Once you reserve your parks for each day of your visit...you can start to strategize on which rides you will want to reserve at 7am EST for each day you are at WDW....

This is what will "sell out" seconds/minutes" after the reservations become available at 7am:

The p2p (pay to play) rides will not count against your ability to select more lightning lane rides after using your first one...once you arrive at the park....so the goal is to pick a lightning lane ride with a very early ride window so you can start selecting more rides using genie+ right away....say you select Peter Pan but only can grab one for 3pm....technically, you would not be able to select another ride reservation until after you rode the ride at 3pm or so.....however, there is a built-in hack, that hopefully, has not been "fixed".....120 minutes after official park opening (depends on which park you are at)...the genie system allows you to select a second ride...so in the above scenario, you can select a second ride reservation at 11am (if the park opens at 9am) and you will still have the 3pm Peter Pan ride reservation....furthermore....after you use the 11am reservation, you will be able to pick your NEXT ride reservation and repeat the process until you arrive to the 3PM reservation...at that point you will be stuck with just 1 ride reservation at a time, unless you take a 120 break (say for pool time or dinner, etc)...then at the 120 mark, you can pick a second ride......confusing right?  LOL

 

MK:

Snow White Minecarts (p2p)

Peter Pan

Jungle Cruise

 

Epcot:

Ratatouille (p2p)

Test Track

Frozen

Guardians of the Galaxy (open this summer) - will probably become a p2p and will oust either Test Track or Frozen as the ride that will sell out quickly

Hollywood Studios:

RotR (p2p)

Slinky Dog Dash

Tower Of Terror

 

Animal Kingdom:

Avatar - Flight of Passage (personally, the best ride currently at WDW...GotG is the one I am hoping will take this distinction, but won't find out for a while)

 

[jenius]

I just did WDW also. I hadn't done the previous system but I'm relieved I didn't need to book things 60 days in advance and was instead able to book it the morning of. That system seems a lot more fair for people who are going to Disney on more of a whim.

I did pay extra for Rise of the Resistance lightning lane. I wish I hadn't ridden Mickey/Minnie's runaway train earlier that day since it's essentially the same ride with the Mickey's shorts theme instead of Star Wars... sort of sucked the novelty out of the experience. 

I had never ridden the Aerosmith coaster and it's awesome. I had always wondered what a more grown up version of Space Mountain would be like and that's exactly what the Aerosmith ride is. 

Slinky Dog line is soooooooooo much longer than it should be. We waited a bit less than an hour but people were waiting far longer later in the day...

I agree with JVM that the ordering of food through the app is super clunky. You order your food before you want it. Then you click "I'm here" and wait for your food like you're in line even though you're not, then you get your food and it's like "Was this really any better?"

For Magic Kingdom, taking advantage of the late hours is definitely the way to go. Leave the park from 1PM-4PM, enjoy a ciesta and/or swim, then head back and stay until 11PM. My kids are elementary school-aged and while the youngest was conking out on the bus ride home, it was still worth it.

The Dwarf ride has some cool video stuff in the photo pass, but as a rollercoaster, I don't know that I would put it above Thunder Mountain. Is Thunder Mountain themed after anything in particular or is it a clue what the next big Disney franchise is going to be?

When using genie +, remember that you get a new pick every 2 hours, not just when you use your last pick (though you might have to wait until 10AM so it's 2 hours after the park opens, I wasn't clear on that). If you book a noon ride at 8AM you can book again at 10AM and then again after you use your noon ride.... though by noon I found the only lighting lanes I could get were for rides that would have almost no standby line.

The pool at Port Orleans French Quarter is legit for kids but they could use a better hot tub situation for parents. 

 

[jvmacross]

One crazy thing too that you can do, is pick a ride that breaks down often (ride it first without a reservation, then select it as a lightning lane pass)......there are several with this tendancy, Splash Mt and Pirstes to name a few)....the cool thing about this is that if the ride breaks down during your reserved return window (and this is for ANY ride) the reservation is converted automatically into an "open" pass.....in the case of RotR....this is great because let's say you got some crummy return window (windows are 1 hour) say at noon and the ride breaks down...suddenly your noon frees up to ride something else and then return to the RotR at a time that is convenient for you.........this happened to me at MK with the Pirates ride...it broke down 3 times and since I had reserved it for those three times, I received a pass to either return to the ride later or pick any other ride.....so what I did was use 2 of them to ride something else that I had not been able to secure during that day...in fact, I actually held onto my last "open pass" and went to see guest services and they were able to swap it to be used for a different park altogether, thus I ended up using it to ride Smuggler's Run at Hollywood Studios....so keep that in mind.....the open pass will coincide with the type of reservation you had...so if it was a P2P...you could swap it for another P2P at another park (P2P are non-refundable, so you definitely want to swap it for something else if you find yourself at the end of the day without having had a chance to ride it, because it was either down or you just ran out of time)....if it was a regular ride...it could only be swapped for another regular ride....the My Disney Experience app will let you know what rides can be used with the open pass.....but it does not tell you that you can swap it for a ride at another park...so use that to your advantage if you are heading to another park the next day or have a park hopper.....don't let them go to unused!

[jvmacross]

7 minutes ago, jenius said:

I just did WDW also. I hadn't done the previous system but I'm relieved I didn't need to book things 60 days in advance and was instead able to book it the morning of. That system seems a lot more fair for people who are going to Disney on more of a whim.

I did pay extra for Rise of the Resistance lightning lane. I wish I hadn't ridden Mickey/Minnie's runaway train earlier that day since it's essentially the same ride with the Mickey's shorts theme instead of Star Wars... sort of sucked the novelty out of the experience. 

I had never ridden the Aerosmith coaster and it's awesome. I had always wondered what a more grown up version of Space Mountain would be like and that's exactly what the Aerosmith ride is. 

Slinky Dog line is soooooooooo much longer than it should be. We waited a bit less than an hour but people were waiting far longer later in the day...

I agree with JVM that the ordering of food through the app is super clunky. You order your food before you want it. Then you click "I'm here" and wait for your food like you're in line even though you're not, then you get your food and it's like "Was this really any better?"

For Magic Kingdom, taking advantage of the late hours is definitely the way to go. Leave the park from 1PM-4PM, enjoy a ciesta and/or swim, then head back and stay until 11PM. My kids are elementary school-aged and while the youngest was conking out on the bus ride home, it was still worth it.

The Dwarf ride has some cool video stuff in the photo pass, but as a rollercoaster, I don't know that I would put it above Thunder Mountain. Is Thunder Mountain themed after anything in particular or is it a clue what the next big Disney franchise is going to be?

When using genie +, remember that you get a new pick every 2 hours, not just when you use your last pick (though you might have to wait until 10AM so it's 2 hours after the park opens, I wasn't clear on that). If you book a noon ride at 8AM you can book again at 10AM and then again after you use your noon ride.... though by noon I found the only lighting lanes I could get were for rides that would have almost no standby line.

The pool at Port Orleans French Quarter is legit for kids but they could use a better hot tub situation for parents. 

 

Yeah....booking in advance is primarily only advantageous if you are also looking to reserve dining as well....if not, then the current situation works for anyone...although if you are not up at 7am EST, are not staying at a Disney affiliate resort, have a slow phone or bad wifi, you are pretty much SOL and can expect to be waiting in long lines all day for the better rides...

Agreed, The Minecart ride is very tame, but it is short and honestly too "smooth" there are hardly any thrills....the gimmick is the swaying carts....in contrast, Big Thunder Mt is harsh and thus adds to the thrill factor....it is always one of the first rides of the day for us, as the wait time usually is 5-15 minutes at park opening (actually, it opens about 30 minutes after park opening, so that sort of helps as most other guests are flocking to what is open already)...usually get 2 rides on that one before heading to Splash Mt....

Port Orleans and Riverside are great and personally the best choice for a trip with both kids/adults.....unless you can drop some serious cash on the Deluxe Resorts....

This time we stayed at the Dolphin, but I think we will not be returning...it costs more, but staying within the Disney Bubble for the entire trip is worth the extra money IMO...

Agreed about Slinky Dog.....especially when it miraculously gets you through the line and onto the ride within 30 minutes or less at exactly 8pm when the park closes...seemingly no matter how many people are currently in line at the time...LOL

That's another tip....didn't get to ride something because the wait times never dropped below 2 hours all day or simply did not want to P2P....just get in line at park close and you will and at a much smaller wait time...go figure!  

[Tking22]

I went to Disneyland in February and loved my visit, didn't get Genie+ or anything, just waited old-fashion style and got to do everything I wanted. I even had time to go back and do Incredicoaster, Toy Story Shooting Gallery or whatever, and Guardians Drop multiple times. Love pre-paying for food too, much easier, less hassle, most lines are packed if you go to order on the spot, especially in California Adventure where every adult wants a michelada or some kind of alcohol, I found pre-ordering way easier. No real gripes from me, I loved it, I'm looking to go again in October. Maybe Disneyworld is worse, but everything at Disneyland was perfectly fine, I had no gripes and I didn't pay for any kinds of extras or Lightning Lane stuff. 

[Dynaman]

41 minutes ago, jvmacross said:

 

This time we stayed at the Dolphin, but I think we will not be returning...it costs more, but staying within the Disney Bubble for the entire trip is worth the extra money IMO...

 

Normally I stay at the Swan or Dolphin.   The Boardwalk area is the best area to stay IMHO and the Swan/Dolphin is the cheapest way to do so if you don't have a vacation club membership.  (or you can book a Vacation Club property through a third party but have to pay way in advance with no refund for a missed trip).  Another bonus for the Dolphin is getting a room with a fireworks balcony room.  I LOVE watching the fireworks from the room and away from the crowds.  I've not kept track lately but the Swan and Dolphin get all the normal perks for a regular Disney hotel as well.

When being even cheaper we stay at the Pop Century, the skyliner is great second best to get to Epcot and HS.  (BW area hotels can walk to Epcot and there is a boat to HS - for those that don't know).

[jvmacross]

2 hours ago, Dynaman said:

Normally I stay at the Swan or Dolphin.   The Boardwalk area is the best area to stay IMHO and the Swan/Dolphin is the cheapest way to do so if you don't have a vacation club membership.  (or you can book a Vacation Club property through a third party but have to pay way in advance with no refund for a missed trip).  Another bonus for the Dolphin is getting a room with a fireworks balcony room.  I LOVE watching the fireworks from the room and away from the crowds.  I've not kept track lately but the Swan and Dolphin get all the normal perks for a regular Disney hotel as well.

When being even cheaper we stay at the Pop Century, the skyliner is great second best to get to Epcot and HS.  (BW area hotels can walk to Epcot and there is a boat to HS - for those that don't know).

Yep...that was the major reason we went for the Dolphin this time around...it was the only Disney affiliated hotel that had the bonus perk for extra evening hours for MK and Epcot....without paying 10K to stay at Grand Floridian, Polynesian, or Contemporary.....for MK it was 11-1am for one day...lol....needless to say all the rides were virtually walk on.....the next day though is rough!

[jvmacross]

2 hours ago, Tking22 said:

I went to Disneyland in February and loved my visit, didn't get Genie+ or anything, just waited old-fashion style and got to do everything I wanted. I even had time to go back and do Incredicoaster, Toy Story Shooting Gallery or whatever, and Guardians Drop multiple times. Love pre-paying for food too, much easier, less hassle, most lines are packed if you go to order on the spot, especially in California Adventure where every adult wants a michelada or some kind of alcohol, I found pre-ordering way easier. No real gripes from me, I loved it, I'm looking to go again in October. Maybe Disneyworld is worse, but everything at Disneyland was perfectly fine, I had no gripes and I didn't pay for any kinds of extras or Lightning Lane stuff. 

Disneyland is a whole different beast......I would say it is more of a local park with overall less crowds and people not needing to "do everything" in one visit due to it's proximity to most of the people that go to Disneyland vs WDW...

Personally, I prefer the Disneyland park, but the trek for me to get there just makes going to WDW a bigger bang for my family vacation bucks...

Disneyland has a few of my favorite Disney attractions, unavailable at WDW...namely The Indiana Jones ride, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and the NBX Haunted Mansion makeover during Halloween-Xmas.....it's been years since I visited.....need to get out there soon and it would have to be during the Haunted Mansion Holiday..so Oct-Dec....

[jvmacross]

So one of the few other things I like to collect are Disney Theme Park exclusive items....most of what I collect is from the Haunted Mansion attraction (all parks), but occasionally I will pick up a few things tied to the various Disney rides and attractions....

Here are a few Disney Park exclusive items tied to the Star Wars attractions and/or available only at the parks....

Millenium Falcon tin-toy with pull-back action....

 

Galaxy's Edge - Black Spire Outpost/Millenium Falcon: Smuggler's Run diorama....

 

Star Tours StarSpeeder 1000 diecast....

 

Galaxy's Edge - Rise of the Resistance Intersystem Transport Ship....

 

[Dynaman]

Latest news is the Grogu, The Mandalorian, and Bobba Fett are coming to Star Wars Land.  Good thing there though not confirmed for Florida, only for California so far.  The Guardians coaster is a hit (not for me though) and the railroad and Tron are coming along nicely.  Personally I hope the RR is back in November when I go back, Roller Coasters are not my thing but if they keep crowds flocking to them for a bit and take some of the crowds away from other rids that is good with me.

[sh9000]

 

[tekering]

Tony "Iron Man" Stark, but no Steve "Captain America" Rogers?

Natasha "Black Widow" Romanoff, but no Clint "Hawkeye" Barton?

Sam "Falcon" Wilson, but no Bucky "Winter Soldier" Barnes? 

Doctor Strange, but no Wanda "Scarlett Witch" Maximoff (or Wong, even)?

Gamora, but no Nebula, Drax or Mantis?

I get why there's no Hulk, Groot, or Rocket Raccoon, of course, but I'm surprised how many human characters have been omitted... especially considering they bothered to include Loki. 🤨

 

[jvmacross]

https://www.polygon.com/23191458/splash-mountain-new-name-disney-world-disneyland-opening-date