old but new to WDW?

[magyargirl]

I apologize that this may already be answered somewhere. But we have been to WDW twice. Once in 2007 for DD's 10th bday and again 2008. I prided myself on how much I learned and knew about strategies for park hopping, dining, reservations, etc. The other day we decided to do a sweet 16 bday trip for DD. I am so shocked at how things have changed. the 1st time we stayed onsite at POR and had DDP. The 2nd time we stayed off site and no dining plan, but I got an AP and that was a blessing with parking and discounts. we enjoyed ourselves more the 2nd time as we weren't tied to dinner reservations. But now I am almost at a loss as to which way would be better. Staying onsite seems to be the only way to really "guarantee" an ILL. I was so sad to see FP go away and be replaced with a charged option. WDW is slowly losing the "magic" for me but I understand this is what I need to do to go and not wait hours in a line. So for 3 of us on a 10 day ticket is $450. Plus $7-20 per ride for ILL?? Please someone help me or direct me to the best way to make this fun and not feel like we are leaving things out. If we stay onsite we plan on using the buses because of the ridiculous charge for parking even at value resorts and couple that with Uber/Lyft. I thought I knew what I needed but I feel wet behind the Mickey ears again! Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I apologize that this may already be answered somewhere. But we have been to WDW twice. Once in 2007 for DD's 10th bday and again 2008. I prided myself on how much I learned and knew about strategies for park hopping, dining, reservations, etc. The other day we decided to do a sweet 16 bday trip for DD. I am so shocked at how things have changed. the 1st time we stayed onsite at POR and had DDP. The 2nd time we stayed off site and no dining plan, but I got an AP and that was a blessing with parking and discounts. we enjoyed ourselves more the 2nd time as we weren't tied to dinner reservations. But now I am almost at a loss as to which way would be better. Staying onsite seems to be the only way to really "guarantee" an ILL. I was so sad to see FP go away and be replaced with a charged option. WDW is slowly losing the "magic" for me but I understand this is what I need to do to go and not wait hours in a line. So for 3 of us on a 10 day ticket is $450. Plus $7-20 per ride for ILL?? Please someone help me or direct me to the best way to make this fun and not feel like we are leaving things out. If we stay onsite we plan on using the buses because of the ridiculous charge for parking even at value resorts and couple that with Uber/Lyft. I thought I knew what I needed but I feel wet behind the Mickey ears again! Thanks for the help in advance!

It's absolutely going to be a completely different experience from 2008. APs and Dining Plans are not an option for you. You mention ILL, but be sure to get educated on Genie+, which is completely separate from ILL, and impacts most of the attractions. Currently, there's only one ILL attraction per park, but many you can access through Genie+. Lay out a general plan for your entire stay, and once you have your tickets purchased and room reservations, go online and make park reservations for the days you want to visit the parks. ADRs are now 60 days in advance, not 180, so have a plan there and be ready to get online right at 60 days before your reservation (BTW - this is another advantage of staying onsite - you can get ADRs at 60 days plus the entire length of your Disney stay. Offsite, it's only at 60 days, so you make reservations a day at a time).

We feel the magic is still there, once you get past all the changes in the planning you'll need to do. Once you are there, it's still a place to enjoy - in our opinion. I'm sure you'll get many more recommendations and ideas and dos/donts. Have a great trip and best of luck with your planning and 'education'!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I apologize that this may already be answered somewhere. But we have been to WDW twice. Once in 2007 for DD's 10th bday and again 2008. I prided myself on how much I learned and knew about strategies for park hopping, dining, reservations, etc. The other day we decided to do a sweet 16 bday trip for DD. I am so shocked at how things have changed. the 1st time we stayed onsite at POR and had DDP. The 2nd time we stayed off site and no dining plan, but I got an AP and that was a blessing with parking and discounts. we enjoyed ourselves more the 2nd time as we weren't tied to dinner reservations. But now I am almost at a loss as to which way would be better. Staying onsite seems to be the only way to really "guarantee" an ILL. I was so sad to see FP go away and be replaced with a charged option. WDW is slowly losing the "magic" for me but I understand this is what I need to do to go and not wait hours in a line. So for 3 of us on a 10 day ticket is $450. Plus $7-20 per ride for ILL?? Please someone help me or direct me to the best way to make this fun and not feel like we are leaving things out. If we stay onsite we plan on using the buses because of the ridiculous charge for parking even at value resorts and couple that with Uber/Lyft. I thought I knew what I needed but I feel wet behind the Mickey ears again! Thanks for the help in advance!

Stay onsite, but there's no need to buy any ILL. ILL only applies to one ride per park, and you can ride those without paying any extra using the Virtual Queue (Cosmic Rewind) or normal standby line, ideally during rope drop or late at night (Mine Train, Flight of Passage, and Rise of the Resistance).

You're going for 10 days. You're going to have plenty of time to do and see everything.

I would buy Genie+ on your first Magic Kingdom day and your first Hollywood Studios day to see if you like it and want to use it your other days, too.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Just to reiterate something I glossed over... the main benefit of staying onsite is that you can enter every park 30 minutes early every day. This replaced the old Extra Magic Hour, where you could enter one specific park 60 minutes early. A lot of people don't like this change but I personally consider it a huge upgrade. You don't have to wake up quite as early, and you don't get a surge of all the onsite guests going to the same park because only one park has EMH.

If you're going to be up in time to take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry (or Extra Magic Half Hour as I call it), stay onsite. If you're going to sleep until Noon everyday, don't bother. But know you're going to have a much harder time getting to ride everything.

 

[magyargirl]

Stay onsite, but there's no need to buy any ILL. ILL only applies to one ride per park, and you can ride those without paying any extra using the Virtual Queue (Cosmic Rewind) or normal standby line, ideally during rope drop or late at night (Mine Train, Flight of Passage, and Rise of the Resistance).

You're going for 10 days. You're going to have plenty of time to do and see everything.

I would buy Genie+ on your first Magic Kingdom day and your first Hollywood Studios day to see if you like it and want to use it your other days, too.

What is the Cosmic Rewind? Is that new? We are planning on the Genie+ for 10 days. Its gonna be tough forking out $450 for 3 of us for the 10 days but I think it will be worth the experiences and not spending a lot of time waiting. I saw some videos on ILL and many said it will be difficult to get the ILL when park opens because the onsite guests take up a lot of it. But I didnt think of rope drop and later evening times. That makes sense.

 

[magyargirl]

Just to reiterate something I glossed over... the main benefit of staying onsite is that you can enter every park 30 minutes early every day. This replaced the old Extra Magic Hour, where you could enter one specific park 60 minutes early. A lot of people don't like this change but I personally consider it a huge upgrade. You don't have to wake up quite as early, and you don't get a surge of all the onsite guests going to the same park because only one park has EMH.

If you're going to be up in time to take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry (or Extra Magic Half Hour as I call it), stay onsite. If you're going to sleep until Noon everyday, don't bother. But know you're going to have a much harder time getting to ride everything.

Thank you for the mention. I didnt know staying onsite gives you the 30 min early entry. That will be great for those attractions that require the ILL. So that will save us a good amount of money. DO you happen to know, are the buses still running well and easy to get when needed?

 

[magyargirl]

It's absolutely going to be a completely different experience from 2008. APs and Dining Plans are not an option for you. You mention ILL, but be sure to get educated on Genie+, which is completely separate from ILL, and impacts most of the attractions. Currently, there's only one ILL attraction per park, but many you can access through Genie+. Lay out a general plan for your entire stay, and once you have your tickets purchased and room reservations, go online and make park reservations for the days you want to visit the parks. ADRs are now 60 days in advance, not 180, so have a plan there and be ready to get online right at 60 days before your reservation (BTW - this is another advantage of staying onsite - you can get ADRs at 60 days plus the entire length of your Disney stay. Offsite, it's only at 60 days, so you make reservations a day at a time).

We feel the magic is still there, once you get past all the changes in the planning you'll need to do. Once you are there, it's still a place to enjoy - in our opinion. I'm sure you'll get many more recommendations and ideas and dos/donts. Have a great trip and best of luck with your planning and 'education'!

thank you for the info. We are definitely planning on the Genie+. I didnt realize ADRs have changed. But thats a good point. We have a few places we loved before that we wanna dine at again. We have never exclusively stayed onsite with no car. If we do stay onsite it will be at a value resort...probably Allstar Music or Sports as they seem the cheapest. But we are planning on using the buses extensively. I hope it will not be an hours long waiting game on the daily.

 

[wilkydelts]

I strongly suggest you search planning websites and start re-learning Disney. There are far to many changes to rely on message board posts.

 

[sponica]

Thank you for the mention. I didnt know staying onsite gives you the 30 min early entry. That will be great for those attractions that require the ILL. So that will save us a good amount of money. DO you happen to know, are the buses still running well and easy to get when needed?

Buses are always a your mileage may vary experience. Because if you get to the stop at 815 and the bus comes at 820, you think "wow that wasn't a long wait" but the person who got there at 803 waited nearly 20 minutes and then thinks "man this took forever". My last stay was deluxe and we really only used the bus once or twice, but I don't think we waited that long when we did wait. It could have just been we were lucky.

 

[loislane]

Just a note - you buy Genie+ by the day, so you do NOT have to buy it for the whole length of your trip. It's most often recommended for HS and MK. I'd play it by ear more in the other parks and wouldn't just rush to buy it every day.

 

[magyargirl]

Just a note - you buy Genie+ by the day, so you do NOT have to buy it for the whole length of your trip. It's most often recommended for HS and MK. I'd play it by ear more in the other parks and wouldn't just rush to buy it every day.

Why not the other parks? Not as much wait? I remember in the times of the FP it was nice to have those passes already set. I take it the crowds are less due to crowd control since the rona?

 

[loislane]

Why not the other parks? Not as much wait? I remember in the times of the FP it was nice to have those passes already set. I take it the crowds are less due to crowd control since the rona?

They are generally less crowded and you can knock out the big ticket rides during the extra morning time usually. But - if you get there and just think you'd rather have Genie+, you can just buy it then.

 

[magyargirl]

They are generally less crowded and you can knock out the big ticket rides during the extra morning time usually. But - if you get there and just think you'd rather have Genie+, you can just buy it then.

ahh okay. that makes sense. Thank you

 

[LSUfan4444]

someone help me or direct me to the best way to make this fun and not feel like we are leaving things out.

I am 100% behind staying offsite, savings hundreds if not thousands and using that savings on G+ and Ill's. There is not one single attraction anywhere at WDW worth the price difference between staying onsite than off.

 

[magyargirl]

I am 100% behind staying offsite, savings hundreds if not thousands and using that savings on G+ and Ill's. There is not one single attraction anywhere at WDW worth the price difference between staying onsite than off.

If we stay off site we would rent a car/suv. So the cost of rental and gas would be saved if staying onsite. But this is where I am torn. We have some time to work this out as our trip isnt until Sept/oct 2023. But Lots to consider. We saved a TON on our 2nd trip staying off site and using an AP. I dont think we would do the ILL if we stay onsite, but instead take advantage of the early entry. Lots to ponder...

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

YouTube and Google are going to be your friend but also read and save every email Disney sends you regarding the trip. They often have information that is important

 

[LSUfan4444]

If we stay off site we would rent a car/suv. So the cost of rental and gas would be saved if staying onsite

If I am renting a car, I quit flying into MCO and started flying into Tampa. the drive is not that much longer, usually less traffic and car rentals are SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper from TPA than MCO.

I don't know the days you're planning on going but right now National has SUVs for a week's rental for about $700 on a non holiday week late winter and early spring. Even with additional costs in gas and parking you can still come out ahead by staying off-site less than 4 miles from Epcot and have a full kitchen to save even more on meals. A quick search (for the same week I looked at the rental car) found a three bedroom just a couple miles off grounds for less than $1500.

Thats less than $2500 for a car, gas and a three bedroom condo.

The benefits with cost now to stay on-site just don't equate to me now unless it's a short trip or I am renting DVC points 11 months in advance.

 

[_19disnA]

We also hadn't been to Disney in over 10 yrs prior to our last trip in 2019. I joined here at that time to learn about what was new since our last visit. Things like DME or dining plans or FastPass........none of which are currently offered.

Honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal for us. All of the hotels are still in the same place and virtually all of the rides are still where they used to be. That Genie thing is new and the unfortunate use of the term "Lightening Lane" meaning two different things...........which either means the place to stand in line or that new purchased ride option. The official Disney website also has a good explanation of how that whole Genie thing works.

Over the years we have stayed both on-site as well as off-property and enjoyed both choices. Where you stay depends mostly on your budget, your opinion about the theming of various properties and to some extent which parks you will be spending the majority of your time. The biggest thing we noticed from our prior trips was how crowded all of the parks were. It now takes at least 2x as long to do the popular rides/shows as in the past. No amount of advance planning is going to make the parks any less crowded.

Some people find Disney transportation a convenient way to get around, others seem to hate it. As with many of those things, it tends to depend on your likes/dislikes and how you like to do the various Disney parks.

 

[CeeCee101]

It's absolutely going to be a completely different experience from 2008. APs and Dining Plans are not an option for you. You mention ILL, but be sure to get educated on Genie+, which is completely separate from ILL, and impacts most of the attractions. Currently, there's only one ILL attraction per park, but many you can access through Genie+. Lay out a general plan for your entire stay, and once you have your tickets purchased and room reservations, go online and make park reservations for the days you want to visit the parks. ADRs are now 60 days in advance, not 180, so have a plan there and be ready to get online right at 60 days before your reservation (BTW - this is another advantage of staying onsite - you can get ADRs at 60 days plus the entire length of your Disney stay. Offsite, it's only at 60 days, so you make reservations a day at a time).

We feel the magic is still there, once you get past all the changes in the planning you'll need to do. Once you are there, it's still a place to enjoy - in our opinion. I'm sure you'll get many more recommendations and ideas and dos/donts. Have a great trip and best of luck with your planning and 'education'!

We were exactly like you, we haven’t been in 13 years and are going next month. We were shocked at all the changes, reservations, limits on hopping, Genie+ and ILL, etc. The thing that helped us a lot were YouTube videos. Search out the Basics: Genie +/MDE/ILL, where to stay pros and cons, all the new rides, food, etc. We have spent months becoming educated and still a bit nervous about it all until we get there and get the hang of it. Also keep reading the pinned threads on this site, that will help too. People here have been helpful