Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
My family and I had a Boo Bash debacle this past August that resulted in our being given 2-day parkhopper tickets, to be used for a future visit (no expiration).
As we'd already planned to be at Universal over February break, it seemed like a no-brainer to use them then, with an eye toward at least checking out Ratatouille and/or the Space 220 Lounge, since they'd be new to us, as well as enjoying some of our old favorites around the parks, for as close to "free" as we'll ever get.
However, as our visit draws closer, I'm starting to second-guess visiting WDW at all. My family didn't want to make a park reservation at EPCOT due to its later opening time, as they felt that would "waste" some of the ticket value by forcing us to twiddle our thumbs for half the morning. That means Ratatouille is probably out, since we couldn't get a boarding group at 7am (no park reservation), and would likely be shut out of the 1pm distribution as well (since we'd be hopping there no earlier than 2pm, on a day with crowd levels expected to be 9 out of 10). Since Space 220 Lounge is now ADR-only with reservations selling out before the 60-day mark, our chances of visiting it are virtually nil, as well. Also, enjoying any of those "old favorite" attractions is going to take far more standing in line than we're used to with early entry eroding the value of a rope drop arrival for offsite guests, no extended park hours despite it being a high-crowd week, no sense paying to try out Genie+ as the "good" ones will all be gone by lunchtime, and we just wouldn't ever purchase ILL access, on principle. I watched wait times on the app over Thanksgiving break, and they were terrible, which makes me very nervous for February break. (We've visited over February break before and wait times were very tolerable, but that was in 2020, just pre-COVID, and using the old FP+ system, so I'm thinking that Thanksgiving Week 2021 is a better predictor of what we can expect to see in February 2022 than our February 2020 visit was.)
I'd been so excited about using those tickets, but I'm starting to worry it's a bad idea that won't be enjoyable for anybody. (It doesn't help that our last visit to WDW in August saw some of the lowest crowds ever and it was pre-Genie+ and pre-early entry, so we got spoiled with short wait times.) Am I overestimating the touring impact of the "new" policies like early entry and Genie+/ILL on off-site/non-purchasing guests? Or should I suspend my judgment for a few weeks until wait time predictors have had more of a chance to digest more Genie+-era data? What are your thoughts?
(And yes, I do realize I'm totally overthinking this and being ridiculous -- I'm just not sure whether I'm overthinking my eagerness to use the tickets, or overthinking my concerns about using them! I've tumbled down one of those Disney planning rabbit holes, and I need some unbiased feedback to moor me to reality.)
As we'd already planned to be at Universal over February break, it seemed like a no-brainer to use them then, with an eye toward at least checking out Ratatouille and/or the Space 220 Lounge, since they'd be new to us, as well as enjoying some of our old favorites around the parks, for as close to "free" as we'll ever get.
However, as our visit draws closer, I'm starting to second-guess visiting WDW at all. My family didn't want to make a park reservation at EPCOT due to its later opening time, as they felt that would "waste" some of the ticket value by forcing us to twiddle our thumbs for half the morning. That means Ratatouille is probably out, since we couldn't get a boarding group at 7am (no park reservation), and would likely be shut out of the 1pm distribution as well (since we'd be hopping there no earlier than 2pm, on a day with crowd levels expected to be 9 out of 10). Since Space 220 Lounge is now ADR-only with reservations selling out before the 60-day mark, our chances of visiting it are virtually nil, as well. Also, enjoying any of those "old favorite" attractions is going to take far more standing in line than we're used to with early entry eroding the value of a rope drop arrival for offsite guests, no extended park hours despite it being a high-crowd week, no sense paying to try out Genie+ as the "good" ones will all be gone by lunchtime, and we just wouldn't ever purchase ILL access, on principle. I watched wait times on the app over Thanksgiving break, and they were terrible, which makes me very nervous for February break. (We've visited over February break before and wait times were very tolerable, but that was in 2020, just pre-COVID, and using the old FP+ system, so I'm thinking that Thanksgiving Week 2021 is a better predictor of what we can expect to see in February 2022 than our February 2020 visit was.)
I'd been so excited about using those tickets, but I'm starting to worry it's a bad idea that won't be enjoyable for anybody. (It doesn't help that our last visit to WDW in August saw some of the lowest crowds ever and it was pre-Genie+ and pre-early entry, so we got spoiled with short wait times.) Am I overestimating the touring impact of the "new" policies like early entry and Genie+/ILL on off-site/non-purchasing guests? Or should I suspend my judgment for a few weeks until wait time predictors have had more of a chance to digest more Genie+-era data? What are your thoughts?
(And yes, I do realize I'm totally overthinking this and being ridiculous -- I'm just not sure whether I'm overthinking my eagerness to use the tickets, or overthinking my concerns about using them! I've tumbled down one of those Disney planning rabbit holes, and I need some unbiased feedback to moor me to reality.)
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