DLR Rope-Drop Without Genie+?

[Elias1901]

Hey all,

We may elect not to use Genie+ for our 5-Day stay at DLR… might try it for a day, but other than that, just not keen on paying the price. I like to get a lot done, but we’ve ridden everything countless times so nothing is exactly urgent in those regards.

So, I’m curious. For those that have went without Genie+ on their side, what’s the best way to rope drop Disneyland and California Adventure? It seems like each park lets in a half hour early to resort hotel guests, so I imagine the park will be a bit full at rope drop any day regardless… but when the gates do open, what should be the first plan of action? At Disneyland, is rope-dropping Rise of the Resistance the best thing to do? I imagine Peter Pan’s Flight is likely one to do as well… but I imagine Rise would be the one that gets long the most throughout the day? For California Adventure, it always used to be Radiator Springs Racers… but I’m guessing now it might be Spider-Man? Not sure which makes more sense based on how their queues build.

Anybody who’s in the know, I’d like to hear from you! Also, some “first thing in the morning” tips and best attractions to select first on Genie+ (for the one day we might opt into it) and a bit of a morning strategy would be nice as well! Also, I'm curious if it’s best to buy Genie+ on a day we begin in Disneyland or over in California Adventure? Not sure if there’s a bigger benefit to start a morning of Genie+ in one park over the other prior to hopping time?

 

[mouschievous]

We did 3 days without G+ in July. Early Entry wasn't happening then, and that would change your strategy a bit, I think.

We did Rise twice in WDW in Jan, so it wasn't on our list of must do's for our July trip, but based on what I've heard, I wouldn't personally RD Rise. It gets long fast, and statistically you're not likely to be one of the first (even less likely if you don't have Early Entry). I would either bite the bullet and pay for it, or I would watch the app and/or walk by occasionally to see what the line looks like.

At DCA, we chose to RD Toy Story Midway Mania because it doesn't have a single rider line. RSR and Webslingers both do, so we used that to our advantage.

If you want to see how our days played out, you can check my trip report here

 

[Ladyslug]

I wouldn't personally RD Rise. It gets long fast, and statistically you're not likely to be one of the first (even less likely if you don't have Early Entry). I would either bite the bullet and pay for it, or I would watch the app and/or walk by occasionally to see what the line looks like.

Agreed. You also run the risk of Rise not even being ready to go at park opening, and now that the early entry folks can line up ahead of regular entry guests, it could eat up a lot of time.

There will probably still be a longer line for Peter Pan than there was previously due to the EE folks, but I think it's still worth rope dropping Fantasyland since basically none of those rides work with Genie+ anyway and you should still be able to get through a lot (maybe all) of those rides before the park starts to fill up. It really depends on your favorites -- everything should be fairly low at rope drop, so if there are a bunch of rides in one land/area that interest you (Indy + Haunted Mansion + Pirates + Splash, or Space + Matterhorn + Buzz + Star Tours, or Midway Mania + Incredicoaster + Critter Carousel + Pal-A-Round; or Guardians + Web-Slingers + Mater + Luigi), then you can get a lot done in a relatively short amount of time.

The fact that RSR and Web-Slingers (and Goofy and Incredicoaster, as well as Matterhorn and Splash and Millennium Falcon in DL) have single-rider lines can save time later in the day if necessary, if that works for your group.

I'm going to suggest getting Genie+ on a Disneyland day, as the Indy and Space Mountain return times can start getting later somewhat quickly, but if you're park-hopping, keep an eye on the Guardians return times so you can grab one for when you think you'll head over to DCA.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Disneyland Daily has good ride strategies (with and without Genie+).

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

My family stayed at DLH in mid-August after early entry was back. So, we took advantage of early entry. I have to say, there was not a lot of guests jamming up Fantasyland or Tomorrowland, in my opinion. I do not think it is a major obstacle to those non-DLR hotel guests that are rope dropping in the morning. Crowding is minimal.

As to ROTR, I just know from experience at DLR and WDW that this attraction (maybe more than any other?) is temporarily closed at park opening. I'm not going to say it goes down all the time, but it is frequent. My family simply will not ride it first thing because of the crowds that head there at RD and then also because of the uncertainty of its operations. We choose to seek out other lands and rides and bang out 2 or 3 headliners while those folks run to ROTR and wait in standby. We typically will head to ToT, etc. at DHS or INDY and BTMR at DLR.

I just think the best way to RD and for any Disney park planning is to maintain a flexible schedule. I never tell my kids pick one ride first thing. Rather, I tell them pick 3 attractions and we will try to work through them all, but knowing that we may only get to 1 or 2 due to temporary closures or other issues that may pop up in the parks. I'm extremely blessed because my DS and DD have super high patience with maintenance issues and ride closures. My DD really wanted to ride Matterhorn, but it is currently closed. She never said a word about it on our trip because she's got an attitude of "what ya' goin' do about it?"

Have fun and enjoy DLR.

 

[GatorChris]

Yeah, there's some angst. As if Genie+ didn't screw up everything enough, now you can't even rope drop rides and get a few short lines unless you fork out tons of cash to stay at a VERY overpriced hotel. Either you spend money, or you get long lines and less attractions every day, all day. At least before Early Entry, you could go to DCA and run like crazy for a ride or two. No more. Disney is making sure you get nothing nice without paying even more for it. Want a parade? Pay for Party tickets. Want to sit for F!? Pay double for an already overpriced meal. Want more rides? Pay pay pay.

Sorry for the rant. Disney just has me good and ticked off today.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Yeah, there's some angst. As if Genie+ didn't screw up everything enough, now you can't even rope drop rides and get a few short lines unless you fork out tons of cash to stay at a VERY overpriced hotel. Either you spend money, or you get long lines and less attractions every day, all day. At least before Early Entry, you could go to DCA and run like crazy for a ride or two. No more. Disney is making sure you get nothing nice without paying even more for it. Want a parade? Pay for Party tickets. Want to sit for F!? Pay double for an already overpriced meal. Want more rides? Pay pay pay.

Sorry for the rant. Disney just has me good and ticked off today.

You are not wrong. I feel the same way lately.

 

[Britrawr]

I have been checking rope drop hours to plan for my trip and they never seem bad for the last two weeks it looks pretty doable on the morning even without genie. That’s for Disneyland though.

 

[Elias1901]

Thank you all for your advice!

In DCA… we’re not so concerned about Toy Story Midway Mania or running all the way back there. So what would be the best if our prime interests would be Guardians, Spidey and Radiator Springs Racers? What would be a good plan of attack for rope-dropping/prioritizing those? The Incredicoaster is also a favorite… but that’s a bit far back and I’m sure it’s not gonna jam up like the others right away.

Lastly, regarding the purchase Genie+ on the day… when can this be purchased? Can it be purchased anytime after midnight for the following day? Or sometime in the early morning? Or does EVERYTHING (including purchasing Genie+) have to wait until 7 AM? I’d think you could buy it a bit ahead of time so you’re ready to select… right? Is that 7 AM time even a thing in DLR or is that just a WDW thing? Or, do you physically have to be through the turnstiles and in the park to both purchase and select your Genie+ stuff? Additionally, can one party member somehow pay for all people in your group if you each all have in individual tickets on individual phones/apps? Or if that’s the case, would each person have to buy their own on their own phone/app?

Thanks for any info and clarification on this!

 

[MonocularVision]

Lastly, regarding the purchase Genie+ on the day… when can this be purchased? Can it be purchased anytime after midnight for the following day? Or sometime in the early morning? Or does EVERYTHING (including purchasing Genie+) have to wait until 7 AM? I’d think you could buy it a bit ahead of time so you’re ready to select… right? Is that 7 AM time even a thing in DLR or is that just a WDW thing? Or, do you physically have to be through the turnstiles and in the park to both purchase and select your Genie+ stuff? Additionally, can one party member somehow pay for all people in your group if you each all have in individual tickets on individual phones/apps? Or if that’s the case, would each person have to buy their own on their own phone/app?

If you don’t purchase Genie+ with your tickets, you have to be through the turnstiles (meaning your entrance ticket has to be scanned in) before you can purchase Genie+ for the day.

As for separate folks, if you are all wanting to use your own Disney account, you can add each other’s tickets to your accounts. Then someone would be able to purchase the Genie+ for others, but again, only for the tickets that have been scanned in. If some folks haven’t been scanned in, then you can’t purchase Genie+ for them.

The other option, which some families do, is just have everyone log in with the same Disney account, with all of their tickets added.

 

[heathpack]

We are locals and visited three times in winter/spring on a SoCal resident special three day ticket. We had Genie+, bought ILL each day, and splurged for the hopper option. They I just got annoyed with all the upcharges and decided to try to avoid genie+, maybe judiciously use ILL, and forgo park hopping.

We just visited again three times between Aug 18 & today on another SoCal resident three day ticket. We are DVC owners at the Grand Californian so one day we had early entry (coulda been two, but we were tired).

These last three visits, we did no genie +, no ILL, no hopper option and it was all good.

On our EE day (Thurs Aug 18), our plan was to rope drop Space Mtn and then go to the back of Fantasyland to try to rope drop Rise. Sadly Space Mtn was down, but our rope drop of Rise was successful, we were done with Rise by 8:30am (30 min after park opening). We rode everything we wanted, and saw the Lion King show, all by our 1pm lunch. Mostly wait times were 15 min (usually posted as 2x that). We saw Space Mtn come to life when we were on the train, and by the time we got there, it was a 55 min posted wait time, we waited 65 min. Haunted Mansion, Pirates and Matterhorn were all down for refurb, but we rode Rise, BTMRR, Jungle Cruise, Buzz, Space Mtn, Tea Cups, IASW, Alice, Main St Trolley, DL Railroad. We left the park after lunch and returned in the evening for MSEP, Fireworks and Fantasmic.

Our second DL day was Fri Sept 2, first day of Halloween season. We attempted to rope drop Rise (despite not having early entry) but it was down. Oh well, we hit up Big Thunder, and then tons of rides with 5-20 min waits: Jungle Cruise, Star Tours, Buzz, Space Mountain, IASW, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Tea Cups, Big Thunder again, Main St vehicles, Great Moments with Mr Lincoln, DL RR. Pirates had been down but we caught it’s reopening in the app. We also caught Rise when it reopened, and wait was only 30 min, then Smugglers. Rode everything before our 5:30 dinner reservation. I’m not sure what would have happened with the Rise rope drop but we were willing to try if, guessing we’d have had a 30 min wait.

Today Sun Sept 12, we roped dropped Radiator Springs (25 min wait despite the EE folks getting there ahead of us), then Toy Story 5 min, Grizzly River Rapids 5 min, Soaring 10 min, Web Slingers 25 min, Mater 10 min, Luigi 15 min. Finished all that by an 11am refreshment reservation. From around noon-1pm, we rode Ferris wheel 15 min, swings 10 min, zephyr 5 min. It was super hot and humid and we were cooked. Went to our lunch reservation and then called it a day, but were not interested in Guardians or Incredicoaster so we did everything we wanted to.

so- THERE IS HOPE FOR THE NON GENIE+ visit. We had decided going into each day that if we felt like we needed Genie+, we’d buy it. Ditto for ILL. But we never did need to buy any of those things. I was also very pleasantly surprised that we didn’t miss park hopping on bit.

I think the non- Genie approach that worked for us:
1. Don’t hop and you have less big ticket attractions to worry about each day.
2. Rope drop whether you have EE or not
3. Tour following wait times on the app
4. If you miss something you wanted to rope drop, check the app frequently to see if it goes down, then get to the ride ASAP when it goes up
5. Don’t need heart set on riding everything- we just took the attitude of being Ok with foregoing riding an attraction if we couldn’t find an acceptable (to us) wait time
6. Most wait times were shorter than the posted times, sometimes longer but typically by only a few minutes.

We really enjoyed our Grnie freedom!