Do we really have time to go back to resort for break mid-day?

[PaladinButters]

It feels like buying Genie+ puts us in a position to "have" to spend a full day in the park in order to get the most for our money.

Paying $100 (or whatever it works out to) per day for the park ticket should already do that.

 

[bluejasmine]

Ugh this is my concern as well.. We use to stay on the monorail line which made it so much easier to take our afternoon breaks but I disabled now so deluxes are out of my price range. Our trip is late Nov so probably too cold for swimming anyway... Our last trip was in late Aug heat and it was horrible hoping that maybe the cooler weather will make it easier to stay in the parks for the day..Im thinking loading a scooter onto a disney bus 4x in one day will be too much of a hassle anyway...

 

[Jennasis]

May the odds be ever in your favor.

 

[Belle5]

Just got flying fish for March 4th

s but I disabled now so deluxes are out of my price range. Our trip is late Nov so probably too cold for swimming anyway... Our last trip was in late Aug heat and it was horrible hoping that maybe the cooler weather will make it easier to stay in the parks for the day..Im thinking loading a scooter onto a disney bus 4x in one day will be too much of a hassl

OP here. My DH has health issues requiring him to leave the park and go to a hospital at least three times a day. He has done this for 35 years. He goes in the morning before parks (so, yes, he's up by 4:30 on vacation) and then will need to leave parks no later than 2 pm to receive more medical treatment. He drives about 22 minutes to the hospital that works with him, after dropping us off at our resort to rest and swim (he never has time for that). He has also had a scooter (only on vacation where lots of walking required) for the past 6 years as he has developed a disease in his knee that feels like broken glass in the joint and will swell up with too much walking. We always rent a car so he can make his hospital trips and transport his rented, portable scooter. My sons (senior in high school and 24 year old) will help him break down the scooter. Our life is very complicated already at Disney and all the changes have made it more so. I don't know why my husband insists on Disney for a vacation when it's so hard for him with so little rest, but he is very driven and not too good at relaxing (but a really great guy). Many of the destinations I would prefer to vacation don't have hospitals to accommodate his needs. All this to say, afternoon breaks are a necessity for us, not a preference!

 

[MomOTwins]

I've always wondered how people had time to go back to the resort before Genie

Easy.

Rope drop used to be a lot less crowded because people weren't waking up at 7am for Genie and/or making sure to arrive at rope drop for their 30 mins early entry (we avoided extra magic hours parks for this reason--it was always the most crowded park). So we used to be able to knock out at least three really good rides in the first hour before the crowds built later in the morning.

Then we used our 3 fastpasses booked back to back for the first three hours, doing non-headliners with short waits in between fastpasses, or "moving up" or fastpasses where available to complete the first three in under 3 hours so we could book a 4th, 5th, 6th etc. in rapid succession. Fastpass inventory was much more plentiful than Genie seems to be so we never had a problem knocking out a lot of extra same-day FPs.

By then it was lunch time so we'd eat and then head back to the resort, usually arriving back at the resort around 2pm. Swim/chill at the resort until 5pm. Then head to dinner around 6 and close out the night with a few more rides and/or fireworks.

The problem with Genie that they really need to fix ASAP is the "bait and switch" time windows and lock in the time when you first click--it's ridiculous that a ride could list expected return of 9am, then once you click through everything it is 3pm. Then you have to choose to give up an afternoon break or give up a Genie+ reservation for something you really want and might not be able to ride otherwise. No surprises would make this a lot easier to swallow.

 

[Edeyore]

You can make the time with proper planning. Stayed at CBR in January. For example went to Magic Kingdom in the morning, back to the resort for rest and pool time, went to Epcot that night.

 

[Belle5]

You can make the time with proper planning. Stayed at CBR in January. For example went to Magic Kingdom in the morning, back to the resort for rest and pool time, went to Epcot that night.

Good to hear! Will you give more details? Did you use Genie+? ILL? Thanks!

 

[Luxurious_Lumiere]

Yes! I love taking a midday break! Stepping outside of the park for a bit can help you rest and refresh. My tips:

Magic Kingdom is usually the day when I most need a break. There's SO much to accomplish there and I generally take vacations where I am visiting each of the four parks just once. For this reason, I love to stay at an MK area resort. Staying at Copper Creek villa this summer. So around lunch time, when the parks are at their craziest, my friends and I can take a leisurely boat ride back to Wilderness Lodge. Then we could take a nap, lounge in the pool, eat a cheap lunch in air conditioning, take a shower if we need. Doing this is a huge way to revitalize yourself and give you the energy needed to get back in the parks and stay all the way through closing.

What if I am NOT staying at an MK resort? Well it can still be relaxing just to take a break at one of the resorts, even if it's not your own! Hop on the monorail and pick your favorite. At Polynesian, you can grab a tasty inexpensive lunch at Capt Cooks. There's Dole Whip at Aloha Isle without the long lines of MK. The lobby has lots of great spots to lounge in (and I love the smell the pump in there!). You could possibly grab a table at Kona Cafe if you prefer table service lunch. The main difference is that you wont be able to swim or shower if this isnt your resort. But it is still a nice relaxing respite from the hectic insanity of the parks. If Poly isn't your vibe, maybe the Grand Floridian is more relaxing to you. Cocktail at Enchanted Rose or lunch from Grand Floridian Cafe. Lounge in the lobby and listen to the band. So if my resort if far away from a park where the travel time would be too much, I normally plan a little respite/sit down at a nearby resort. I still find it to be worth it.

I'm so sorry to hear of your DH's health issues. My partner passed away from cancer this past year, but in our final Disney trips, his health made it a challenge for him to do a full park day as well. The Minnie Van service proved to be a life save for him: when staying at a Ft Wilderness Cabin, they could pick up/drop off right at our cabin and then take him to/from the park gate. It made taking breaks so much easier for him, which he needed to regain some strength/rest and at times take meds or fix some medical equipment. Does you DH qualify for the DAS pass? I know that would have made things so much more enjoyable for my partner, but he felt guilty about asking for one (you wouldn't necessarily know what was going on with him just by looking at him, and he was afraid people would judge him and think he was gaming the system). so he didn't do it. Given the amount of times your DH needs to leave the park, this could be something that really changes his day if he qualifies. After having to leave our party so many times and struggling to wait in long lines, my partner wished he had done it. He did appreciate time to sit or have a meal outside the parks, even at a resort we weren't staying at.

 

[snikki]

If you strategically stack your G+ reservations for the evening, that’s probably the best plan. At MK you should be able to get 4 rides stacked for 5-7pm if you book them in the right order, plus ILL for 7DMT (an order like PP, Thunder, Haunted Mansion, Small World, something like that).

That would of course mean all standby in the morning though.

This is our plan for almost all of our RD park days next trip. Ride standby, do a midday break and then go to park two with stacked G+/ILL. We are more of quality over quantity. We also did PM FP+ when FP+ was a thing.

The problem with Genie that they really need to fix ASAP is the "bait and switch" time windows and lock in the time when you first click--it's ridiculous that a ride could list expected return of 9am, then once you click through everything it is 3pm. Then you have to choose to give up an afternoon break or give up a Genie+ reservation for something you really want and might not be able to ride otherwise. No surprises would make this a lot easier to swallow.

And this is why my plan is to do evening stacking in our second park because something like this would annoy the crap out of me. We do midday breaks so that 3 pm wouldn't work and would have wasted my time.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I guess this is why I don’t spring for deluxe accommodations as I’m a park all day and night guy. A break messes the flow up especially if your from magic kingdom and have to wait for the ferry or monorail

 

[SLThomas318]

I don’t think it will be a problem to find a Genie plus attraction that you can book which would leapfrog your pool time in the afternoon. Let’s say it’s noon and you are ready to go back to the resort, just book a genie plus for a popular attraction that is sometime after your pool time. Then while you are at the pool, two hours later, you can book/stack another one for the hours that you will also be back at the park.

The last few trips we also go back to the resort every day to nap or relax. The plan I mentioned is how we will do it

Dan

This was our plan going into the trip, but found it a little harder to accomplish. There is def a sweet spot to Genie+. Our MK was a lower crowd day and had an opening time of 8am. With early entry at 7:30am we got so much done the first couple of hours and it was all pretty much walk-on (buzz, speedway, pooh, tea cups, grabbed a snack, barnstormer multiple times, dumbo, and ariel). Had it been a normal 9am opening then I don't think we would have been as successful. We had $LL for 7D and had booked a regular LL for PP for 11:00am. Since it was an 8am opening, we could book our next LL at 10am. I played a very frustrating game of refresh in order to get a 10:30am small world... it would show 10:30am, but then would try to book us for 1pm. Finally got the 10:30am slot so we could ride small world while we waited for our PP time. I played the same refresh game during small world trying to get a big thunder for right after lunch. It was close to 1:30pm when we finished lunch/big thunder and return times for the rides we hadn't done were still only at 3/4pm. We hardly ever stay in the park till 1pm so we really needed a break (young kids and my older parents were along). We took our break, but I had to keep checking for a time that would work so I couldn't just set a 2 hour alarm. I think I finally picked up a HM for 6pm maybe? It just felt like SO much work. The morning walk-on hours were so enjoyable, but once I hit the 10am window and needed to start paying attention to Genie+ again I just got frustrated. The return windows are obviously going to vary with the crowds and on a moderately crowded day then it should be easier to pick up a later time, but then on a really crowded day return times just run out. My parents hadn't been in over 20 years, so we felt like we needed to accomplish more then if it had been just our family of 4. We are def going into our summer trip with different expectations and trying some non Genie+ days.

 

[wdw&sonny]

The timeliness of this thread...I am contemplating a WDW trip for Fall 2022. Our first since Jan 2020...just before the big P hit. I was just explaining this same dilemma to my DW yesterday. What do we do? Spend more, do less, be frustrated. Sounds like the new WDW.
We too are used to spending our energy at RD and getting much done before a nice TS lunch, back to the resort for pool, relax, read, sip a cold drink. Then, either back to the park for TS dinner and evening show, or maybe an attraction or two. We've learned that you can't accomplish much between dinner and evening entertainment. Hence stacking G+ doesn't work well for us.

Having read all these threads on how different things are with crowds and G+, I don't know what to do. Seems we either do our usual routine and just expect to get less done in the morning. Or, we add days to the trip. Or we stick it out in the parks to the point of frustration for the sake of "getting our money's worth".
We are currently stuck and undecided.

It makes me wonder...hmmm...has anyone actually calculated how much each attraction costs them?
I actually looked at this over the course of ~12 previous trips. For my family of 4, we spent about $1000 per day and did about 10 attractions.
That's $100 per attraction.
I wonder what that value is now with bigger crowds and G+

 

[DisneyFive]

This was our plan going into the trip, but found it a little harder to accomplish. There is def a sweet spot to Genie+. Our MK was a lower crowd day and had an opening time of 8am. With early entry at 7:30am we got so much done the first couple of hours and it was all pretty much walk-on (buzz, speedway, pooh, tea cups, grabbed a snack, barnstormer multiple times, dumbo, and ariel). Had it been a normal 9am opening then I don't think we would have been as successful. We had $LL for 7D and had booked a regular LL for PP for 11:00am. Since it was an 8am opening, we could book our next LL at 10am. I played a very frustrating game of refresh in order to get a 10:30am small world... it would show 10:30am, but then would try to book us for 1pm. Finally got the 10:30am slot so we could ride small world while we waited for our PP time. I played the same refresh game during small world trying to get a big thunder for right after lunch. It was close to 1:30pm when we finished lunch/big thunder and return times for the rides we hadn't done were still only at 3/4pm. We hardly ever stay in the park till 1pm so we really needed a break (young kids and my older parents were along). We took our break, but I had to keep checking for a time that would work so I couldn't just set a 2 hour alarm. I think I finally picked up a HM for 6pm maybe? It just felt like SO much work. The morning walk-on hours were so enjoyable, but once I hit the 10am window and needed to start paying attention to Genie+ again I just got frustrated. The return windows are obviously going to vary with the crowds and on a moderately crowded day then it should be easier to pick up a later time, but then on a really crowded day return times just run out. My parents hadn't been in over 20 years, so we felt like we needed to accomplish more then if it had been just our family of 4. We are def going into our summer trip with different expectations and trying some non Genie+ days.

Unfortunately that's the nature of the beast and I'm just as bummed/frustrated. G+ is simply a far inferior system, for which we need to pay. What a lovely double whammy. I think I may have forgone the BTMRR and booked it for after your afternoon break and started the break earlier like you wanted to. I'm not one to judge though. I wasn't there, and I understand the desire to knock BTMRR off your list.

Bummer that we need to make these tradeoffs with G+. Depending on how things go this summer, it might be the first time ever that I give Disney a piece of my mind regarding the recent changes.

Dan

 

[SLThomas318]

I guess this is why I don’t spring for deluxe accommodations as I’m a park all day and night guy. A break messes the flow up especially if your from magic kingdom and have to wait for the ferry or monorail

You will def be able to maximize Genie+ with a park all day and night strategy!

 

[SLThomas318]

Unfortunately that's the nature of the beast and I'm just as bummed/frustrated. G+ is simply a far inferior system, for which we need to pay. What a lovely double whammy. I think I may have forgone the BTMRR and booked it for after your afternoon break and started the break earlier like you wanted to. I'm not one to judge though. I wasn't there, and I understand the desire to knock BTMRR off your list.

Bummer that we need to make these tradeoffs with G+. Depending on how things go this summer, it might be the first time ever that I give Disney a piece of my mind regarding the recent changes.

Dan

Totally agree... I wish I had called it at lunch (which pre-genie+ is what we would do). With the parents along I felt a little more pressure to check more boxes. I'm looking forward to our summer trip with just the 4 of us and giving it another go to see if we can find what works for our touring style.

 

[Belle5]

You will def be able to maximize Genie+ with a park all day and night strategy!

We are staying at a Bonnet Creek area resort that offers the 30 minutes early in the morning benefit but no evening hours. We have most dinners booked for 6 p.m. MK closes at 8, DHS at 9, EPCOT at 9 and DAK at 7. We would have to drop our TS evening meal (something that has always been a big part of our vacation) and stack "evening" rides with Genie+. I really, really do not like the choices the new system requires us to make! Remember, 40+ vacations to WDW, always a swim and evening TS meal. I hate the feeling of having to choose between those moments that make a vacation feel a little relaxing and special (swim/special dinner) and experiencing enough attractions to make the ridiculous ticket/Genie+/ILL costs not seem like a complete waste!

 

[SLThomas318]

We are staying at a Bonnet Creek area resort that offers the 30 minutes early in the morning benefit but no evening hours. We have most dinners booked for 6 p.m. MK closes at 8, DHS at 9, EPCOT at 9 and DAK at 7. We would have to drop our TS evening meal (something that has always been a big part of our vacation) and stack "evening" rides with Genie+. I really, really do not like the choices the new system requires us to make! Remember, 40+ vacations to WDW, always a swim and evening TS meal. I hate the feeling of having to choose between those moments that make a vacation feel a little relaxing and special (swim/special dinner) and experiencing enough attractions to make the ridiculous ticket/Genie+/ILL costs not seem like a complete waste!

I agree with your frustration. This was a short trip for us so we didn't have any ADR's to plan around... you def can't do both (well you can, but then I agree you aren't getting very much value out of Genie+).

 

[diskids2]

I see no problem with RD, break, back at night. If you want G+ or ILL, then stack it after the break. While you are sitting at the pool, grab them every two hours. IMHO works best at DHS and MK. I found G+ to be useless at EPCOT and maybe ok at AK.

 

[diskids2]

Sorry i just realized I should say why I found it useless at EPCOT. I would rope drop Soarin' or vice versa Test Track and then I would G+ the opposite. Had no issues with that. But then I realized I literally paid $15 pp just to get on TT or Soarin' LOL! We went during Christmas break once I did the G+ ride the other was not available to book. Luckily it was only one ILL during my trip. Otherwise I would have paid .....like I was paying for 3 ILL! Live and learn!

 

[DisneyFive]

Sorry i just realized I should say why I found it useless at EPCOT. I would rope drop Soarin' or vice versa Test Track and then I would G+ the opposite. Had no issues with that. But then I realized I literally paid $15 pp just to get on TT or Soarin' LOL! We went during Christmas break once I did the G+ ride the other was not available to book. Luckily it was only one ILL during my trip. Otherwise I would have paid .....like I was paying for 3 ILL! Live and learn!

I agree, there really isn't a need for G+ at Epcot, especially with how you lay it out.

We pre-purchased G+ for our upcoming 8 day trip, with 2 of the days being Epcot and one AK. Part of that decision was so that I didn't need to get up even earlier to purchase G+ each day we wanted to use it.

I think another consideration for us, with G+, is that our EPCOT days are going to truly be sleep in days. I placed them in our schedule as such. As in, we won't get to Epcot by park open even though it doesn't even open until 10am. In that sense, knowing that we will still be able to G+ both TT and Soarin will be nice.

I agree though, G+ is FAR more useful at HS and MK.

Dan