I’ve seen many how to use genie plus videos that say to select the first time that pops up and then try modifying to a later timeCan I choose a later time though, and not just the first one that shows up?
I’ve seen many how to use genie plus videos that say to select the first time that pops up and then try modifying to a later timeCan I choose a later time though, and not just the first one that shows up?
Or you can simply refresh until you see a later time appear.I’ve seen many how to use genie plus videos that say to select the first time that pops up and then try modifying to a later time
I’ve seen many how to use genie plus videos that say to select the first time that pops up and then try modifying to a later time
Or you can simply refresh until you see a later time appear.
You can try modifying G+ for later times but you can't pick your times.Can I choose a later time though, and not just the first one that shows up?
Yeah I have had pretty good luck just refreshing to get times that I want - it can take 5 minutes or so but eventually something usually comes up.
We have found that week in between the marathon and MKL weekend to be an absolute gem. Lowest crowd levels I have ever seen at WDW through the week and then pick up a little bit starting Friday of MLK weekend. You can usually catch the first day of the Arts Fest which is awesome. Just a great time to go to WDW.Here now! We went to MK yesterday and had a fantastic day. I signed up for Genie+ At midnight and booked our first LL for Splash at 7AM. I modified it a few times because we didn’t get to the parks until 11.
We arrived at the hotel to Goofy and Donald roaming in front of Pop Century and hopped on a bus around 10:30 (line was quite backed up at Pop but they dispatched 3 busses so that took care of things) and were in the parks shortly after. We reactivated my son’s DAS pass and enjoyed riding the train for the first time since 2018! We headed to Splash for a farewell ride and kicked off the day.
I won’t go into time stamp detail, but by the time we ended our day around 8:30 by utilizing the DAS and Genie+ we went on: Splash Mountain x3, Pirates x2, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Winnie the Pooh, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Dumbo, Buzz, The Little Mermaid, the People Mover, and watched Philharmagic. We also had a fantastic lunch at Skipper Canteen. Genie+ was much much more effective this trip than the last time I tried to use it shortly after it’s launch. Obviously MK is a better park for it than some of the others.
It was a fantastic day and I was shocked to see the crowd levels were much lower than our last trip here. I expected mobs due to the marathon but I could actually walk without much difficulty in places that are traditionally crowded like the area in front of Small World. We are heading to MK after hours tonight, EPCOT tomorrow, and HS after hours Wednesday so I will try to keep you updated!
We just left after five days post marathon. It was crazy crowded - way more humanity than I have seen in the past few years this week. So many marathoners (identified by wearing their medals several days after the events) stayed after the race, which we hadn’t seen in the past (or in the past the runners didn’t wear their medals for days). We had no issues using Genie+ to get everything we wanted when we wanted, but if you were flying by the seat of your pants, expected a lull, or not purchasing Genie+, you would have been in for a rude awakening. Disney Springs on Wednesday late morning/early afternoon was insane!We have found that week in between the marathon and MKL weekend to be an absolute gem. Lowest crowd levels I have ever seen at WDW through the week and then pick up a little bit starting Friday of MLK weekend. You can usually catch the first day of the Arts Fest which is awesome. Just a great time to go to WDW.
We just left after five days post marathon. It was crazy crowded - way more humanity than I have seen in the past few years this week. So many marathoners (identified by wearing their medals several days after the events) stayed after the race, which we hadn’t seen in the past (or in the past the runners didn’t wear their medals for days). We had no issues using Genie+ to get everything we wanted when we wanted, but if you were flying by the seat of your pants, expected a lull, or not purchasing Genie+, you would have been in for a rude awakening. Disney Springs on Wednesday late morning/early afternoon was insane!
I thought the crowds seemed very normal but totally agree on wait times, those were some of the longest waits I've seen across the parks! I suppose it definitely feel that crowded because everyone was in lines! Maybe too late to matter but I never had any trouble riding Guardians anytime after my VQ had been called. I had boarding group 1 and didn't scan in til evening without issue.A summary of our experiences 1/1-1/6:
Crowds and wait times: Yowzers. Our last trip was March 2020 and I didn't feel like the crowds were much higher this time around but the wait times were outrageous. I was really good at the old fast pass system and was able to work the system to get Fast passes for most rides but I wasn't as successful with Genie+ so we had several 60+ wait times through the trip.
Genie+: I hated paying for it and it was $29 the first few days we were there but it was worth it. We skipped it our first day at Epcot since I saw so many say you don't need it at EP and AK but that 100 minute wait for Remy was awful. We bought it for every other park day. Refresh, refresh, refresh. We were able to modify to earlier times several times and get things that were previously gone. We were not able to get RnR or TT in HS because we prioritized MMRR and MFSR for our younger boys. Had no issues getting it for most rides at MK and AK. Bought ILL for Rise only since we haven't ridden it before and skipped the others since we got into the virtual queue for Guardians and have previously ridden FOP and SDMT.
Deluxe Extended Evening Hours: Amazing for MK. We were able to ride Seven Dwarves 2-3 times in a row with minimal waits and Big Thunder 5-6 times with only a wait the first time. Peter Pan had an extremely long line at around 30 minutes into the extra hours so we jumped out of line. Didn't try to ride anything else and we left the park with about 20 minute left because we were exhausted. Didn't enjoy the extra hours at Epcot. We got in line for Remy about an hour before the parked closed (probably a poor choice) and that ate up the first 40 minutes of EEH. We split up after that and half went to TT and half to FEA and those had wait times of around 30 minutes each. We could have hopped on another ride at the end but we were tired so we left. We were able to get into the virtual queue for Guardians but somehow missed the notification when it was our time but we had ridden it earlier in the day and were ok with missing it the second time. We saw several people that weren't staying in deluxe resorts trying to bully cast members into letting them on rides at both parks and multiple rides. Please be nice to cast members. They don't make the rules.
Quick service: Do the mobile order and plan early. It was such a time saver but sometimes you would have to waIt an hour for an available time so start working on your order an hour before you want to eat.
Table service: We had all good meals but Tiffins is hands down the best meal we have ever had at WDW. Mama Melrose was good and the service was great but we had to wait 40 minutes for our table which threw off our evening ride plans. I had stacked LL and we ran out of time and lost our TSMM LL because the park closed before we could get there.
Shoes: I have had issues with blisters in the past so I brought Body Glide and moleskin and needed neither! I wore Adidas Cloudfoams which were comfy the whole trip except in the rain. Zero water protection. Within a few minutes of it starting to rain my shoes and socks were soaked!
Caribbean Beach Resort: we stayed there our first night because prices on 1/1 for hotels were outrageous. We were in one of the new Little Mermaid rooms. Great layout for a small room with 5. We love the pull down beds which gives more room during the day when it is folded up but that couch is as hard as a rock!
BLT: Our first time there. Loved the convenience of being on the monorail and walkable to MK. The monorail was down when we tried to go back to the room for a mid day break so that was a bummer to walk when we were tired but transportation was great every other time. Staff was great as well and housekeeping came every day when we were expecting every other day. Loved seeing fireworks from the bridge at night. We had a one bedroom and love the extra space and the extra bathroom. Other than location, I can't say that the resort was worth the price we paid. It was a very average hotel room for $900 a night and it does need a renovation. The carpet and couch had stains. Who puts a cream colored couch in a hotel room?!?!? We stayed at Kidani last time and much prefer that resort except for the inconvenient location.
Southwest Airlines: Boy were we nervous leading up to our trip but we has zero issues. Both flights were on time. We decided to carry on which we don't normally do but I wasn't putting my bags in the hands of Southwest when there were still thousands of bags stranded across the nation.
MCO: Our flight left at 9pm so I was expecting lower crowds. Checked the website for security waits before we left and they looked good but we thought it was best to still get there 3 hours in advance. My DH and I have precheck and there wasn't a single person in line but our adult son doesn't and it took him 45 minutes to get through security. We had plenty of time but I'm glad we got there early or I would have been very stressed.
You can ride anytime after your BG is called, so no need to rush to the ride for your one-hour window - just an FYI for those out there who may not know. If you’ve purchased an ILL$, then you should arrive during your selected time.Instead of continuing to do daily recaps I will just post some general impressions:
1) The magic is still there IMO. I never ran into an impolite cast member, everyone seemed to go out of their way to be friendly and helpful. The character interactions are back and are great!
2) You can have a better experience than you have ever had before at WDW.....if you are willing to pay for it, and do a lot of research. It also helps if you are more technologically savvy. Use the guest services people in the parks to help if you run into issues.
3) G+ works incredibly well in some situations and parks, and is a waste of money in others, and you don't know which is which until you try it. Paying for it the day of feels bad, and they should give you back the option of paying for the entire trip. Yes, it might be a waste in some parks, but I really disliked starting my day with a transaction.
4) You can get a lot done with G+ without rope dropping, and if you rope drop, G+ may not be necessary, particularly in Epcot and AK. In HS, I would recommend rope drop AND G+ OR doing the after hours party.
5) The After Hours parties are incredible for people who can stay up. Its actually a good value, which is hard to find at Disney. I would recommend having a rest day during the day of the party. I made the mistake of going to a park in the morning and I was pretty tired for the party (but it was still great!).
6) GOTG is a fantastic ride, and if you preselect your party and refresh every 5 sec starting from X:59 to the time it is supposed to start (7am,1pm,6pm) you have a good shot of getting a boarding group. Sometimes the time they give you pops REALLY early (i had one that was supposed to hit at 2pm and I got a notification to board at 11:30am) so be prepared for that.
7) Extras that are worth it: After hours party at HS, Spice Road table Fireworks party (if you like more adventurous food), Hoop de doo (if you like a corny family show with BBQ style food), Topolino's breakfast - so good!
8) Extras that are NOT worth it: Dessert parties at MK, Magicband +, Space 220 sit down meals if you are not a Sci-Fi type person - do the lounge.
9) Best food: Topolino's, Spice Road, Sebastians Bistro, Satuli, Kona Cafe breakfast, Beaches and Cream
10) Best snacks - Dole whip in POG juice - you can get this at Aloha Isle, Popcorn in Star Wars area, bread service and drinks at Nomad Lounge.