ML_LovesDisney
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2010
Hi all, we are here now (arrived 11/24/21 super early). This isn't about strategy, just more of our experience so far. I am a super planner and don't mind planning. How we like to do Disney is do morning or mid-day park time and then back to resort, dinner, Disney Springs in the evenings. That is not really possible with Genie+ if you are wanting to ride as many rides as possible.
Day 1 we went to Animal Kingdom, and we were still in-flight when Genie+ booking and Individual LL became available, so I logged onto SW Wi-fi and was able to get ILL for FoP at 4:05pm. At first, I pulled really early time, but we wouldn't have been at the park yet so I refreshed after a minute and it already to 4:05pm. I also bought ILL for Expedition Everest and we got 3:20pm. MK day was 11/25/21 and Genie+ was slightly more useful there. The problem is, by the time you are allowed to book your next attraction, everything worthwhile is into the evening times. Since there are more rides in MK though, the Genie+ feels at least slightly better because you can stand-by some things (Under the Sea Little Mermaid had 15 min wait at 10am). Yesterday, 11/26/21, we did DHS. I bought Genie+ again, tried to rope drop for ToT and then use our first LL for Rock N Rollercoaster. By the time we made it through the crowds, ToT was at 50 minutes, which went by in about 35 minutes. LL for RR was 10:25am, but the ride went down so we got a "use anywhere but the fancy rides" LL which we used for Toy Story Mania. The teens really wanted to ride RR so I booked another LL for 8:25pm and told them they can go back later after dinner which ended up being okay. They just went in, rode, and rode the bus back to AKL.
Genie+ does not allow for any planning IMO. For example, we have dining reservations today at 9:25am at Polynesian. If I risk it and pay $15 per day times 5 people (daughter has a friend with her), I may pull the first available time for Test Track at 11a and we won't make it over by then. If I wait, I probably won't get a LL at all. I did get a virtual queue for Remy and I am not planning to buy Genie+ today or any ILL. Basically, if you don't buy Genie+, you risk extremely long waits all day long. At least if you have it, you get on a 1-2 things you really want without a huge line.
Having to get up at 7am to book sucks. And I am a morning person and up at that time anyway usually. Yesterday, I really wished I could've slept in because we had been up at 2am the day before for our flight. That is not an option now if you want to book rides and actually get decent times. We haven't had issues with mobile ordering food. I have been ordering around 9am to be safe though and there are plenty of times available. It is extremely annoying though and also doesn't make any sense. At AKL, the Mara QS requires mobile ordering (food choices aren't great either, they don't even have all the food listed on the Disney website menu). Then, we drove over to Port Orleans yesterday to get beignets, and their QS is open, no mobile ordering required.
Do I still love Disney? Yes. Are we still having a great time? Yes. If you are the planner in the family, just prepare yourself to be attached to your phone at all times. Will I adapt to it? Most likely. I do not see myself doing twice a year trips anymore though. Once a year, I can deal with this and the costs because there is still always something to do, some good food remains, and we get to enjoy family time.
Day 1 we went to Animal Kingdom, and we were still in-flight when Genie+ booking and Individual LL became available, so I logged onto SW Wi-fi and was able to get ILL for FoP at 4:05pm. At first, I pulled really early time, but we wouldn't have been at the park yet so I refreshed after a minute and it already to 4:05pm. I also bought ILL for Expedition Everest and we got 3:20pm. MK day was 11/25/21 and Genie+ was slightly more useful there. The problem is, by the time you are allowed to book your next attraction, everything worthwhile is into the evening times. Since there are more rides in MK though, the Genie+ feels at least slightly better because you can stand-by some things (Under the Sea Little Mermaid had 15 min wait at 10am). Yesterday, 11/26/21, we did DHS. I bought Genie+ again, tried to rope drop for ToT and then use our first LL for Rock N Rollercoaster. By the time we made it through the crowds, ToT was at 50 minutes, which went by in about 35 minutes. LL for RR was 10:25am, but the ride went down so we got a "use anywhere but the fancy rides" LL which we used for Toy Story Mania. The teens really wanted to ride RR so I booked another LL for 8:25pm and told them they can go back later after dinner which ended up being okay. They just went in, rode, and rode the bus back to AKL.
Genie+ does not allow for any planning IMO. For example, we have dining reservations today at 9:25am at Polynesian. If I risk it and pay $15 per day times 5 people (daughter has a friend with her), I may pull the first available time for Test Track at 11a and we won't make it over by then. If I wait, I probably won't get a LL at all. I did get a virtual queue for Remy and I am not planning to buy Genie+ today or any ILL. Basically, if you don't buy Genie+, you risk extremely long waits all day long. At least if you have it, you get on a 1-2 things you really want without a huge line.
Having to get up at 7am to book sucks. And I am a morning person and up at that time anyway usually. Yesterday, I really wished I could've slept in because we had been up at 2am the day before for our flight. That is not an option now if you want to book rides and actually get decent times. We haven't had issues with mobile ordering food. I have been ordering around 9am to be safe though and there are plenty of times available. It is extremely annoying though and also doesn't make any sense. At AKL, the Mara QS requires mobile ordering (food choices aren't great either, they don't even have all the food listed on the Disney website menu). Then, we drove over to Port Orleans yesterday to get beignets, and their QS is open, no mobile ordering required.
Do I still love Disney? Yes. Are we still having a great time? Yes. If you are the planner in the family, just prepare yourself to be attached to your phone at all times. Will I adapt to it? Most likely. I do not see myself doing twice a year trips anymore though. Once a year, I can deal with this and the costs because there is still always something to do, some good food remains, and we get to enjoy family time.
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