First time visit help please!

[chezcurrie]

Yeah, I don't think I could be bored at Disney. It's my happy place.

I am smiling reading your post here, because I like how you say about 401 rush hour. lol.
We were hoping to do a scenic drive for 2 days from LA to SF and take the highway down or vice versa. Is that a bad idea then?

Oh, I meant the 401 + the 400 (Barrie) traffic… on a cottage weekend.

A scenic drive is definitely possible, and preferable! It all depends on your cruise port. I would try and have the least driving on the tail end of your trip. Feel free to DM me, happy to help out a former neighbour.

 

[parkbr]

Oh, I meant the 401 + the 400 (Barrie) traffic… on a cottage weekend.

A scenic drive is definitely possible, and preferable! It all depends on your cruise port. I would try and have the least driving on the tail end of your trip. Feel free to DM me, happy to help out a former neighbour.

Will send you a DM! Thank you!

 

[BrianL]

I saw the little log (not the honey jar) and got SUPER EXCITED!!!

Yeah, we're gonna skip Dumbo - if there is one. But the rests, we don't mind doing it again! Heeha!

It's a bee hive!

 

[dina444444]

Oh I see.
But do I also have an option to purchase Genie+ the day of?
Is it also like WDW, that Genie+ price will fluctuate depends on how busy the park is?

Yes and yes. Though if you buy it in advance I think it’s a flat $20/day instead of a variable $20-$30/day on the day of.

 

[dina444444]

Just wanted to comment on the heat. We have dry heat as opposed to humid heat. Dry heat can sometimes take you out much faster and our weather fluctuates greatly between august - September, looking at you this past Labor Day weekend with 3 consecutive 100 degree+ days.

 

[irlandaise]

We were hoping to do a scenic drive for 2 days from LA to SF and take the highway down or vice versa. Is that a bad idea then?

That would be nice. It's good that you realize the driving time involved. Some visitors to California don't.

 

[parkbr]

It's a bee hive!

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CANT WAIT!

 

[parkbr]

Yes and yes. Though if you buy it in advance I think it’s a flat $20/day instead of a variable $20-$30/day on the day of.

Oh I see. Got it. Thank you!

 

[parkbr]

Just wanted to comment on the heat. We have dry heat as opposed to humid heat. Dry heat can sometimes take you out much faster and our weather fluctuates greatly between august - September, looking at you this past Labor Day weekend with 3 consecutive 100 degree+ days.

Yeah. I know dry heat can do that - I had experienced it many times first hand when I was young. (when I first moved to Edmonton).

Oh boy. Well, weather is hard to predict. Just no rain please.

 

[pennym]

Look into Knotts - completely different experience, a bit rough around the edges compared to Disney, but still very charming. Don't do weekends there though, check Is It Packed.

 

[mdmost]

We're thinking of also doing SF - like a touristic things. For us, flight to LAX is so much cheaper than anywhere else, right now.

What do you mean by if we do rope drop, you cannot touch Genie+ until 11AM?
At DWD, you can do first selection at 7 then 2 hours after the park opens. Is it different at DL?
We're now leaning towards doing it for 4 park days. What is Bookend?

You don't have to touch Genie+ for rides before 11am if you plan to ride a lot of the Genie+ selectable rides early in the morning. So instead of getting to the gate and immediately booking rides like Space Mountain, just go to Space Mountain and ride standby. The Genie+ that early isn't going to save you that much time. Same with Indiana Jones, the Matterhorn, Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, or Millenium Falcon. Most of the time before 11am, the Genie+ return time is only 20-30 minutes later meaning the rides are pretty easy to walk on and have minimal waiting. Rope drop at DLR is so much nicer because it's not a bunch of out of town people all having the same idea. You can get a lot more done at DLR in those early morning hours than at Magic Kingdom. You can't book a Genie+ selection until after you scan your park ticket at the turnstile. So 7:30 at the earliest.

 

[Tksolomom]

I do not believe you can purchase in advance any longer. It will be done on the day-of. The nice thing is you can do it day by day, so if you don't feel you will need it on the third day, just save the money. You will do it through the app. Make sure you have everything set up (payment method, party, etc.). I am not sure at what time you can do it, but each morning just make the purchase and you're good to start using it.

You can still buy Genie+ in advance at Disneyland only. It is cheaper if you get it ahead of time for all days and is a fixed price rather than variable pricing. I would get park hoppers. I think 3 days is good, especially if you have been to Disneyland.Don’t miss Pirates, it is a lot better.

 

[MissDisney21]

Most of the time before 11am, the Genie+ return time is only 20-30 minutes later meaning the rides are pretty easy to walk on and have minimal waiting.

What rides do you suggest getting Genie + for in the morning? Which ones will have later wait times so you can “stack”?

 

[mdmost]

What rides do you suggest getting Genie + for in the morning? Which ones will have later wait times so you can “stack”?

We always book Big Thunder just because it's a normally a one time ride for us and we'd rather not wait in the queue. When we rope drop Galaxy's Edge, we might book Millenium Falcon after riding it previously since the wait will balloon once Rise eventually goes down. I'm monitoring the return times for other rides when I'm waiting in an existing line. That way you can see if one is getting busy. This seems to happen when another ride goes down close by. People start flocking to the closest big ride.

I guess it all depends where you start. We normally rope drop Space Mountain and then fill in the rides in Tomorrowland around that like Buzz and Star Tours. They normally have minimal waits. Then we'll look at how the Matterhorn is doing since it's close by. We then head next to Indiana Jones, Big Thunder, and Haunted Mansion. If any of those are over 30 minutes, we'll get the Genie+ for them. We then knock out Pirates and Winnie the Pooh. We would get a Genie+ for Splash Mountain a little closer to when we're going to take our afternoon break so we can change back at the hotel. We also book Small World because the outdoor queue can be pretty hot.

For California Adventure, we go to Incredicoaster first and ride it a few times since the wait is nothing. We then go clockwise around Pixar Pier. We may get a Genie+ for Toy Story if it's starting to build up. We also get one for Goofy's Sky School since that's a weirdly short queue that seems to take forever. We book Webslingers and Guardians. We always get a ILL for Radiator Racers. We'll book Soarin as our last one before heading back for an afternoon break. We save Monster's Inc for our return visit.

 

[dina444444]

The rides that have their genie+ times pushed out faster are typically Indy and space at Disneyland along haunted mansion when it’s in holiday mode. At DCA it’s web slingers and guardians.