OMG ... It was seriously packed today!

[pokee99]

Yeah, I meant 2-3 hour returns for LL - sorry if I made that confusing in my OP. The LL line waits were generally the same on Monday, as they were on the weekend - maybe a bit longer. Just a little more chaotic scanning in.

In comparison to Fastpass, the LL return times are not really much different on a busy day - that's true. I was just shocked comparing the difference between LL on Sunday and Monday!

On Tuesday, I noted some 4 hour returns - Space, Toy Story, RSR, Monsters Inc - but likely due to closures (there were soooo many rides breaking down!). I think this was the real contributer to the long LL return times.

I did a couple of mobile orders on Tuesday before leaving. One at the Mint Julep Bar (second time - and super fast and efficient both times) and the Tiki Juice Bar (which we were forced to do because there is no walk up). The Tiki Bar experience was a nightmare! Long wait, confusing pickup signs, given wrong directions twice by staff there, rude staff running the booth. It's just Dole Whip! How can that possibly be the nightmare that it was?!

Sadly, we were happy to leave on Tuesday. We were still sad our DLR vacation was over, but we were more sad we couldn't repeat our Saturday & Sunday experience.

Honestly, we were more sad to check out of the Westin than anything... that place was an oasis....

 

[jordan13402]

Whew!!

But I don't think that's much different than return times in the 'Before Times' though. I can remember getting MPs/pulling FPs and having return times that were much later than 2-3 hours. There were times you'd pull a pass for Indy or RSR in the mid morning and the return time wasn't until the early evening, or later. Of course you could pull a 2nd one after 90 minutes (with MP) so it was not that big a deal.

With G+LL can you not pull a second pass at all until the 1st one is used? I thought it was the 'old style' 2 hr wait to pull a second LL.

it is, thats how you can stack LL's

 

[Blondie58]

Monday March 14th... busier than it was on Saturday or Sunday. Slightly warmer weather.

LL averaged instant to just over a half hour return times on the weekend... today 2-3 hours for most of the popular rides. Lots of rides broke down. Even the single rider line at RSR was nearly two hours because it was down so long!!!

The mobile food orders were crazy - 3 hours... ughhh!

The new and improved WDW experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[brenda1966]

Here now and yes it is packed. It’s hard to stack the LL when they start to stretch out 2-3 hours return time and then you have to wait two hours to book your next. Did manage to get one magic ll each day for down rides. Have not had an issue with mobile food ordering. Only had to wait 20 minutes for my window once. And then maybe 5 once you say you’re there. So that has worked out well. But yes I think it is harder to mange with so many rides down and so little entertainment to pull people away from rides. It’s much harder to get a lot done. And between genie + and iLL I feel like I’m spending a fortune.

 

[mseyre]

Here now and yes busy but have been able to do almost everything by rope dropping. My super tip for web slingers is go at 9:30 a night. Said wait time was 35 mins. We basically walked right on with no wait. Most of the day it said it was 90 plus mins. Glad we waited until the end.

 

[mseyre]

Oh and also we went on Rise when it said 95 min wait. We were done the whole ride in an hour. Interesting that the new rides have been over exaggerating times yet the waits for us on the older rides have all been at least 10 mins longer than posted.

 

[nicolispicoli]

I will say that despite the crowds this past few days, I had zero issues with mobile ordering. Never waited very long and even hit a few spots that weren’t offering it and still got my food right away. Had a few prime reservations pop up we snagged, including 2 trips to Oga’s with groups of 4 and 7.

My biggest gripe and takeaway from the last few days is that I am now paying WAY more just to have the same experience I had 5-10 years back, but with double the people and less helpful, happy cast members. I’m only thankful our kids are 8-11 and can take a break then hang til midnight in order to maximize those last few hours. So many with small kids don’t get that chance. I feel like Disney knows this is the experience of so many families and they just don’t care I really hate to complain, I’m lucky to be able to afford to take my family to Disney, but our long standing love affair might be burning out.

 

[austinelsa]

Rope dropping is the key now for sure. Spend the first two hours just doing rides. Stack on the short standbys, do the LLs that tend to get longer return times later in the day, if you want to do rise, book it before 10am so its doesnt sell out on you. Then break for food at like 11.

I know alot of people say to wait on the LLs til later in the day, but we did it differently. We were at the parks from open until 12/1, then took a long break back at DLH, and then we returned to parks around 5 until whenever the kids passed out. We decided to stack the majority of the rides in the first round and then take it easy in the second half. We never waited more than 15 mins for the whole trip doing it this way. LLs we did in the morning at DL - BTMRR, Space, Splash, MFSR, Rise, Buzz (once standby and once LL). At DCA - Guardians, RSR, Incredicoaster, Monsters. We saved the others for the evenings. Since we were there multiple days, we also swapped the time of day we did some of the rides on different days. So one day we rope drop LL'd BTMRR but then another day we saved our LL until night so we had both experiences. That was a benefit of a 4 day park hopper. Day 1 - DL > DCA. Day 2 - DCA > DL. Day 3 DL > DCA. Day 4 DCA > DL. Worked out well to have all the experiences and rode everything multiple times that we wanted to.

Also, the multi experience passes you get when LL rides breakdown are AWESOME when used for the non-LL rides. You can basically just skip the long lines for Dumbo, Alice, POTC, Mater/Luigi, Jungle Cruise, etc. For us with kiddos aged 3 and 6, it helped them not get ancy in those typically long lines.

 

[austinelsa]

Just an addition to my comment above, it is ridiculously expensive tho to do it this way.

DLH + park hoppers + Genie+ + ILLs + all the other stuff (food, souvenirs, etc), it adds UP. But this was our first trip anywhere since covid started and it was super important for our family so we saved up and pulled out all the stops so it was magic for the kiddos and fun for us adults. If I were local and went more often than once every 2 years, I would probably have issues with the cost. For now, its a splurge and im ok with that given how well it turned out for us.

 

[xipotec]

We are WDW experts, and can easily so all rides multiple times at WDW any day, even busy ones.

BUT if you get a bad day for ride closures and breakdowns , there is literally nothing you can do to get away from lines and crowds.

Our worst day had VOTLM , SpM in contant breakdown mode, along with BTMRR down for the week.

It was hell. You have to remember , all thosw rides suck people out of the park commons as they are riding or in line waiting to ride. Take a crowded day and close a bunch if areas that can take people off the streets and they goto food and wander around.

7DMT was 3 hour wait, POTC was 2 Hours….there was an hour wait for PM …..the line for FP return to SpM was all the way to Buzz…..

Worst Disney day I ever had

I am sure this is comparable to Disneyland.

The park managers need to start telling upper management to get these rides operational, and maintained. Move there butts on renovations, an start paying a living wage to staff to get back the experience. If not , this may be known as the decade of decline.

If your charging premium prices, deliver a premium experience. The have done it before.

As a side note, COVID is still affecting the parks BUT now in the opposite way. People have been pent up with staying home and are desperate to get out….anything…..anywhere. So all the oarks are gonna see huge increases in volume this summer. Park management should be aware of this an preparing for it, if the are worth a damn

 

[DisneyAndreaM]

Yesterday was our first day and, yes it was busy! I knew it would be and was mentally prepared for it. Fantasyland was crazy packed, especially with Toon Town being closed.

We were there at rope drop and were able to manage well until mid-afternoon. We did Snow White, Casey Junior, Big Thunder, Rise, Millenium Falcon, Small World, Alice, Haunted Mansion, Buzz and Incredicoaster using Genie+.

First time here in two years so was happy to be back! Took me awhile to get used to Genie+. I find the interface annoying and clumsy. But once I figured it out, much better!

Mobile order was fine for us in the morning. Wanted a dole whip around 1pm and return time was an hour out, so chose to pass.

I find the lightning lane lines longer than the old maxpass/FastPass system. Still have to wait 10-20 minutes depending on the attraction. Soarin and Incredicoaster were the longest.

We bought $LL for RSR for 7:50-8:50pm. Arrived at 8:30pm and it was down. I asked for a refund because using it for another attraction was useless to me because my 5 year old needed to go back to the hotel to sleep. Had to go talk to guest services where the cast member told me RSR won’t go back up at that point and I’ll be automatically refunded in 3-5 days. Thinking about it later, I also wouldn’t have been happy with the “free lightning lane” for another attraction because I already bought Genie+.They need to start just automatically refunding when the attraction is down. The line up at guest services was huge.

 

[China Expat]

I just can't stomach the thought of going to Disney these days. Such a shame It's all too much.

 

[Astylla]

I just can't stomach the thought of going to Disney these days. Such a shame It's all too much.

May I ask what you find to be too much ?

I understand the extra planning is different especially for those on the west coast who have been " spoiled" by so much flexibility versus WDW where almost everything had to be planned in advance - dining at 180 days( now 60 dame as DLR) , fastpass plus selections before , etc.
I am a planner so for me these changes work in my favor but can understand the hesitancy. Disney is part of my lifeblood and even with crowds as a magic key holder I still find magic every trip and have gone with several others both magic key holders and others. No judgement or pressure just sharing some positive experiences.

 

[DLgal]

Just a little tip for mobile orders:
If the return window is too far out, hit the back button and refresh. Usually you will get a "NOW-XX:XX" return window, or at least an earlier time. This is especially true at the little stands like Dole Whip, Cozy Cones, etc. It's never failed me.

 

[DisneyAndreaM]

Just a little tip for mobile orders:
If the return window is too far out, hit the back button and refresh. Usually you will get a "NOW-XX:XX" return window, or at least an earlier time. This is especially true at the little stands like Dole Whip, Cozy Cones, etc. It's never failed me.

Thank you! Just tried this and it worked!

 

[DLgal]

Thank you! Just tried this and it worked!

It always does! Glad to help!

 

[Astylla]

Another tip is mobile order first thing in the morning anything you might want , this ESPECIALLY GOES FOR AFTER DARK EVENTS.
During Merriest Nites we got all the food because of me and teaching my coworkers the way of a true Disney addict lol.

If you never pick it up by closing you will automatically be refunded. But also this allows you to change the arrival window.
Some items like the Raspberry Macaroon at Jolly Holiday do sell out at times so that I would advise getting sooner than later. They travel exceptionally well and keep for days,

 

[China Expat]

May I ask what you find to be too much ?

I understand the extra planning is different especially for those on the west coast who have been " spoiled" by so much flexibility versus WDW where almost everything had to be planned in advance - dining at 180 days( now 60 dame as DLR) , fastpass plus selections before , etc.
I am a planner so for me these changes work in my favor but can understand the hesitancy. Disney is part of my lifeblood and even with crowds as a magic key holder I still find magic every trip and have gone with several others both magic key holders and others. No judgement or pressure just sharing some positive experiences.

The need to plan out every ride, the lines for everything, the crowds, but mainly the long wait time for rides. Can't stand that long anymore. Don't want to be glued to my phone all day.

 

[Astylla]

The need to plan out every ride, the lines for everything, the crowds, but mainly the long wait time for rides. Can't stand that long anymore. Don't want to be glued to my phone all day.

I personally don't believe you need to plan out every ride , but I do agree having a plan is useful. I understand the concern about not being able to stand as long. I actually use DAS for my PTSD/social anxiety/other unseen issues and an ECV half the time due to a mobility injury that isn't recovering. While DAS isn't for mobility issues renting an ECV is always an option and many people use them for a myriad of reasons if you choose or feel that would be an option.

There are better times to go if that brings you joy to go , I would still consider it. While mobile technology is becoming more helpful it is absolutely possible to go and enjoy without being glued to the phone. All restaurants take walk ups , counter service you can order traditionally even though many suggest mobile order - I just prefer it,
Genie+ is not a must even if most people act like it is.
I would not take current wait times to be the end all be all. It is the "perfect" trifecta of people travelling again , spring break in CA/AZ , etc. / Food and Wine , SoCal Weekday special ticket offer AND entertainment returning within the next months. That is quite a lot of factors to consider.

Please understand my reply is in no way trying to convince you as that is unfair but wanted to offer some encouragement.
I hope you can come back someday when you are ready

 

[Wilcojoe]

We just got back last week for the first time in 6 years and I will sum it up this way. If it wasn’t for Genie plus, rope dropping and reading the tips from this board, it very well could have been our last trip. I can’t even fathom going to Disney and not taking advantage of those three things.
Last week went so well, I would totally consider coming back in the dead of summer or at Christmas time when I otherwise would have never considered it.