July 4-7 quick review...
July 4 Very pleasantly surprised by how comfortable EP was: busy, but never terribly crowded. Arrived around 11am, left after fireworks. Got both VQ and ILL for GOTG: VQ was about a 45 min wait, ILL around 20. Standby waits: Seas 5 min, SE 10 min, Soarin 30 min - all in the afternoon. Lunch at Lotus took less than 5 mins to order and receive.
July 5 I did a late morning arrival at AK - bought G+, but wanted it for DHS in the evening, so didn't risk "burning" any bookings at AK. AK was uncomfortably crowded all over; I didn't stay long. EE standby was 5 mins for Single Rider, Dino was 20. Safari was 60 and I opted out: too hot for that kind of wait - had I arrived earlier, my wait would've been shorter, but I valued the extra sleep more!
Using G+ for DHS, I booked SDD at 7am, TOT at 9am, RnR at 11am, MMRR at 1pm, TSM at 3pm, and later - maybe around 6pm? - grabbed ST just because I could. I also got ILL for ROTR. My return times started at 3pm, which worked perfectly for an a relaxed evening. I would not pay for G+ routinely, and I wouldn't have felt I got full value out of it if the attractions I wanted were down, but I had a lucky day, it saved me a TON of wait time, and it was worth it to me this time.
July 6 started at EP with a VQ time for GOTG and lunch, then hopped to MK. GOTG VQ was a full hour wait this time.
I tried G+ again for a MK evening and it didn't work quite as well... my main complaint with G+ is not being to select a time. It was giving me much earlier times than I wanted when I started booking at 7am, but I didn't want to risk not getting things at all by waiting, so I went ahead and took what it gave me. The result was a bunch of rides stacked up earlier than I intended and nothing left I wanted to do in the late evening when I actually wanted to be there. Starting at 7am and booking every 2 hours, I got Splash, PP, BTMRR, HM, POTC and BL. BTMM was down at my return time due to weather and I didn't really care to wait it out, so I used it for Pooh instead. G+ did save me an hour wait each on Splash and PP, and 30ish mins on everything else, so I guess the value was there... but I'd also have happily skipped half the rides and had the late evening I wanted. I wound up ditching MK, which was pretty crowded, and went to the Poly for a drink before calling it a day around 8pm.
July 7 one last VQ for GOTG before heading home! I had a little time to kill first, so I did LWTL standby - 10 min wait. VQ for GOTG only took 20 mins this time.
General views:
July 4th felt the least crowded, by a lot. Weird.
I was offsite and had no issues getting what I wanted with VQ and G+, despite being "behind" the onsiters.
A big slice of pizza and side salad at BW Pizza Window might be one of the most underrated quick meals at WDW.
I'm very risk averse, so wore a quality mask 100% of my time indoors and the majority of time outdoors, and ate all meals outdoors, well away from others... the masking was fine, but eating outside in 100* heat got old. I didn't have trouble finding shaded spots to eat, though it often meant sitting on a bench or standing instead sitting at a table.
CMs were ON! Pleasant, friendly, and helpful across the board.
I wasn't sure if I'd renew my AP in Aug., and I feel like WDW worked hard to make me feel appreciated this trip - it may well keep me coming back.