Trip Roundup. Facts, Figures, Observations, and Opinions:
- Total Steps Taken: 96,152.
- Least amount - 2,574 on Thursday. Resort Day and it rained all day.
- Most - 17,143 Friday. Hollywood Studios.
- Total Miles Walked: 41.2 Miles.
- Best Ride - Flight of Passage.
- Longest Wait - People Mover right at 20-minutes.
- Highest High-Heat Index - 96 degrees.
- Lowest High-Heat Index - 72 degrees.
Now is the daily park touring return on investment. The crowd levels are as reported by Touring Plans retroactively. The amount of time saved is the posted wait-time upon entering attraction. Attractions using G+ took five- to 10-minutes. If there was an outlier, I don’t recall it.
Magic Kingdom Saturday, April 2nd Crowd Level 7/10
- 9 am to 2 pm.
- G+ Rides
- Peter Pan - 75
- Haunted Mansion - 60
- It’s a Small World - 45
- Buzz Lightyear - 60
- Total Time Saved: 240-minutes.
- Investment in G+: $60 + Tax.
- Missed Rides: None.
Magic Kingdom Sunday, April 3rd Crowd Level 7/10
- 3 - 9:30 pm.
- G+ Rides
- Jungle Cruise - 95
- Splash - 115
- BTMR - 95
- Pirates - 35
- Tomorrow Land Speedway - 35
- 7-Dwarves - 120
- Space Mountain - Did Not Use
- Total Time Saved: 495-minutes.
- Investment in G+ and $ILL: $116.
- Missed Rides: Space Mountain.
Epcot Tuesday, April 5th Crowd Level 7/10
- 10 am - 5 pm.
- G+ Rides:
- Test Track - 90
- Living With the Land - 55
- Soarin’ - 60
- Total Time Saved: 195-minutes.
- Investment in G+: $60.
- Missed Rides: Remy, Frozen, Harmonious.
Hollywood Studios Friday, April 8th Crowd Level 9/10
- 1 - 9:30 pm.
- G+ Rides:
- Tower of Terror - 140
- Slinky Dog - 130
- Smuggler’s Run - 60
- MNMRR - 35
- RotR - 135
- Total Time Saved: 495-minutes.
- Investment in G+ and $ILL: $120.
- Missed Rides: Indiana Jones, RNR Coaster, Toy Story Mania.
Animal Kingdom Saturday, April 9th Crowd Level 6/10
- 9 am - 3 pm.
- G+ Rides:
- Flight of Passage - 120
- Kilimanjaro Studios - 55
- Dinosaur - 55
- Na’vi - 60
- Total Time Saved: 290-minutes
- Investment in G+ and $ILL: $116.
- Missed Rides: None.
So, that’s it. I will check back pretty regularly as long as people have questions and will continue to check periodically after that, so don’t be shy. My wife and kids would give this trip a 10/10. I would say a 7.5, perhaps an 8. Make no bones about it, the trip was awesome, but I’m not eager to come back anytime soon. The G+ is exhausting for the planner. And everything I’ve put here pen to paper will almost certainly change as Disney continues to evolve the product. I could see a trip somewhere down the line when my youngest is a bit older and can take part in the rides at Sea World and Universal, but I’m on the wrong side of 45 and it is a tough trip.
- Best Decisions:
- Staying offsite at Marriott Sabal Palms.
- Using G+ every single day and the $ILL whenever I could.
- Late starts to parks and stacking G+ reservations.
- Spending two-days at MK.
- Bring Mole Skin and Body Glide.
- Worst Decisions:
- Biergarten.
- XPress Pass Unlimited at Universal. Single-use would have been fine.
- Going to Epcot.
- Not bringing my own lanyards to Universal Studios. Their XPress Pass is flimsy paper; you almost have to have a lanyard. They charge you $15 for each.
- Going for nine-nights. The free days were awesome and necessary, but I could have done without Epcot and Universal and sliced a couple days off the trip. Universal had to be done for the oldest though…no regrets about that.
Stay safe, stay vigilant, stay informed, and stick it to the mouse whenever you can. I look forward to your questions and thanks for reading!
