Advice request on our next trip

turbolaaf

New Member
Hi,
First of all, my apologies if I make some spelling mistakes. I'm not American (Dutch) but I hope my text is manageable.
I've been reading this on the forum and website for quite some time, and never really posted anything. As our trip gets closer, I hope for some advice from you as experienced Disneyworld experts.
First of all, our planning is already fixed as the parks are already reserved. For your information:
April 24 Animal Kingdom
April 25 DHS
April 26 Epcot
April 27 Magic Kingdom
April 28 DHS
April 29 Magic Kingdom.

The main question now is, how do we get the most out of the day per park since we are not on site.
We are in a house nearby and want to arrange transport with Uber.
We will be using Genie+ and can therefore try to reserve the first Genie+ LL at 07.00.
We also want to try to be present at rope drop, which should also save some time.
How do we best approach each park? The wish is to be able to do every major attraction.

What is your advice in the form of:
Animal kingdom 07:00 reserve genius+.....
Rope drop walk to.....
Next ride ......

Additional questions:
We only have 1 day in Epcot as well as Animal kingdom. So some extra attention is paid to this. We don't have to do Remy anymore since we already know it from Paris.
We would like to buy an ILL in the park, but the question is whether this is still useful since resort guests can already do this at 07.00 and we cannot.

We use T-mobile (also in America), what is the network like in the parks?

rope drop,
To avoid delays I have found the following drop off points with a Uber:
AK: no other address possible to walk from to the park so just a Uber ride to the park.
Epcot: Uber to the Yacht club, then walk to the skyliner and with that to the entrance.
Magic Kingdom: Uber to Bay lake towers, then walk to the park entrance.
DHS: Uber to Disney Miniature Golf, then walk to the park entrance.
Thoughts?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards, Anton
 

Goofy213

Well-Known Member
For Animal Kingdom I would LL Flight of Passage, Everest is usually a short wait time. Genie + the Safari ride. Uber will probably drop you off right at the bus stop, but you my have to pay for a parking pass. Maybe try to be dropped off at Animal Kingdom Lodge and then take the resort bus to the park.

For Hollywood Studio's, LL Rise of the Resistance, and Mickey's Runaway Railway, both are well worth it. Genie + as many rides as possible here, especially Tower of Terror and Slinky Dog Dash. This park has more guest than attractions long lines are everywhere. If Uber want drop you off at the park, try being dropped off at the Carribean Skyliner Station and then ride the Skyliner right to the park (this could work for Epcot as well).

Epcot I would LL Frozen, if you have no ambition to ride Ratatouille. Genie + Test Track always a long wait, and Soarin.

Magic Kingdom is easy. The walk from Contemporary is not that bad, if not they probably will drop you off at the Tranportation and Ticket Center and then you could fight the crowd on the Monorail. As for rides LL Seven Dawn's MT, and Space Mountain at peak times these reach well over 120 min. Genie + everything especially Jungle Cruise, Peter Pans Flight, Big Thunder, Splash and Haunted Mansion.

I know you will read bad things about Lightning Lane and Genie+, but me and my son used it over Christmas break last year and it worked great. We were able to do everything in Studio's and Animal in a half a day each. This gave us time to do other things, like spending extra time in Magic Kingdom and dinner and Cirque d' Soliel at Disney Springs ( which I highly recommend, excellent show, well worth the cost). The best advice anyone can give you is, do your vacation your way, and have fun. Happy travels.
 
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Uber will drop you off at the front of each park, except magic kingdom where you will get dropped off at the transportation and ticket center. As far as I know you can not get dropped off at any resort (security won't let you in) unless you either are staying there or you have a dining reservation there. You will not have to pay for parking to get dropped off at the front of the park.

As for Genie+, rope drop and ILLS

Animal kingdom:
7am Genie+: Kilimanjaro Safari aim for a 9am return time (best ride experience will be early morning or late afternoon when animals are most active)
Rope Drop: Navi River Journey, then immediately get in line for flight of passage. (Reason: Navi River Journey is fun but not worth a long wait which it does tend to get, in addition flight of passage has one of the absolute best ride queues on wdw property and personally I enjoy a short wait in that queue to admire the imagineering).
ILLS: If you want to ride Flight of Passage a second time after rope drop you could pay for the Individual lightening lane (if this is a once in a lifetime trip it would definitely be worth it to ensure a second ride on this). Aim for a ride time around noon and eat lunch at Satuli Canteen in Pandora

Hollywood Studios:
7am Genie+: Slinky Dog (If you don't secure a genie+ for this ride at 7, you will not get one at all because they book up completely at 7) depending on your family interests I would highly recommend securing a Tower of Terror Genie plus second due to the extremely long waits that ride gets right now because half the ride (1 out of the 2 elevators) is down for refurbishment making the capacity for how many guests can get on very low.
Rope Drop: Again if this is a once in a lifetime trip I recommend Rope dropping slinky dog, followed immediately with riding toy story mania and then alien swirling saucers (this strategy will let you ride 3 rides with small wait, vs wasting a lot of time in line for Rise which will have a huge line regardless of time of day. Be aware that slinky too may already have a prohibitively long wait at this point due to early entry. If this is the case you instead could opt to rope drop Mickey's Runaway Railway instead.
ILLS: After purchasing Genie+ at 7 for slinky immediately buy rise of the resistance for whatever time available. In addition to purchasing rise if you want to ride it a second time I recommend jumping in line at the very end of the day last minute before park closing (you can get into line for any ride in any of the theme parks 1 minute before official park close and you will still be able to wait in line and ride it even if the park is technically closed.)

Epcot:
7 am Genie+: Test Track or Frozen Ever After (Personally I would try for test track first and select Frozen for my second ride.)
Rope Drop: like rise, Remy's will already have such a long wait already due to early entry that it would be pointless to try and rope drop it. My Recommendation would be to rope drop Soarin (if you rope drop soarin there may not be a long line yet. This is important because if you are very nice ask the cast member to sit you in concourse b. This section of the ride has the best ride experience and may be easier to request at rope drop). After you rope drop Soarin the easiest thing to knock out with little wait would be Space Ship Earth or Living with the Land. (Again try to get Frozen as your second Genie+)
ILLS: You could buy Remy's if you want to ride it twice but as you said you don't need to since you've rode it in Paris. My only other suggestion is like Rise you could jump in line at the end of the night which would allow you to ride it once without paying.

Magic Kingdom:
7am Genie+: Jungle Cruise ( second Genie+ Peter Pans Flight or any Mountain). With Magic Kingdom since you have 2 days you could adjust your selections based on what you ride the first day. But you will get better use by trying for the earliest genie + option regardless of what ride it is.
Rope Drop: Everyone else will head straight for seven Dwarfs Mine Train or Jungle Cruise. So you should instead head for either Space Mountain or Thunder Mountain. If you rope drop Thunder Mountain you may be able to jump in line for Splash immediately after with little wait knocking out 2 big Mountain rides quickly. (Since you have genie+ and ILLS you don't have to worry about rope dropping Jungle or seven dwarfs).
ILLS: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. And as suggested above if you really want to ride it a second time do so at night or right before park closing. (My Recommendation: If you watch Enchantment Fireworks on your first MK day you don't need to see them again your second day. Instead 30-45 mins depending on the ride wait time, before the Fireworks on night 2 get in line for seven Dwarfs. If you do this and luck is on your side you will be able to enjoy the Fireworks while riding a very magical experience.)

As for T-mobile: I have it, it works great for me and I've had no issues with it at disney.

Best of Luck
 
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Upvote 0
For Animal Kingdom I would LL Flight of Passage, Everest is usually a short wait time. Genie + the Safari ride. Uber will probably drop you off right at the bus stop, but you my have to pay for a parking pass. Maybe try to be dropped off at Animal Kingdom Lodge and then take the resort bus to the park.

For Hollywood Studio's, LL Rise of the Resistance, and Mickey's Runaway Railway, both are well worth it. Genie + as many rides as possible here, especially Tower of Terror and Slinky Dog Dash. This park has more guest than attractions long lines are everywhere. If Uber want drop you off at the park, try being dropped off at the Carribean Skyliner Station and then ride the Skyliner right to the park (this could work for Epcot as well).

Epcot I would LL Frozen, if you have no ambition to ride Ratatouille. Genie + Test Track always a long wait, and Soarin.

Magic Kingdom is easy. The walk from Contemporary is not that bad, if not they probably will drop you off at the Tranportation and Ticket Center and then you could fight the crowd on the Monorail. As for rides LL Seven Dawn's MT, and Space Mountain at peak times these reach well over 120 min. Genie + everything especially Jungle Cruise, Peter Pans Flight, Big Thunder, Splash and Haunted Mansion.

I know you will read bad things about Lightning Lane and Genie+, but me and my son used it over Christmas break last year and it worked great. We were able to do everything in Studio's and Animal in a half a day each. This gave us time to do other things, like spending extra time in Magic Kingdom and dinner and Cirque d' Soliel at Disney Springs ( which I highly recommend, excellent show, well worth the cost). The best advice anyone can give you is, do your vacation your way, and have fun. Happy travels.

You don't need to ILLS: Frozen, Mickey's Railway, or Space anymore. They are now all included in Genie+ through August.
 
Upvote 0
For more wdw genie+ tips I highly recommend checking out the YouTube channel: TouringPlans. They have 4 videos published recently on their touring plans teaches videos that go into a lot of genie+ and ILLs specifics.
 
Upvote 0
Uber will drop you off at the front of each park, except magic kingdom where you will get dropped off at the transportation and ticket center. As far as I know you can not get dropped off at any resort (security won't let you in) unless you either are staying there or you have a dining reservation there. You will not have to pay for parking to get dropped off at the front of the park.

As for Genie+, rope drop and ILLS

Animal kingdom:
7am Genie+: Kilimanjaro Safari aim for a 9am return time (best ride experience will be early morning or late afternoon when animals are most active)
Rope Drop: Navi River Journey, then immediately get in line for flight of passage. (Reason: Navi River Journey is fun but not worth a long wait which it does tend to get, in addition flight of passage has one of the absolute best ride queues on wdw property and personally I enjoy a short wait in that queue to admire the imagineering).
ILLS: If you want to ride Flight of Passage a second time after rope drop you could pay for the Individual lightening lane (if this is a once in a lifetime trip it would definitely be worth it to ensure a second ride on this). Aim for a ride time around noon and eat lunch at Satuli Canteen in Pandora

Hollywood Studios:
7am Genie+: Slinky Dog (If you don't secure a genie+ for this ride at 7, you will not get one at all because they book up completely at 7) depending on your family interests I would highly recommend securing a Tower of Terror Genie plus second due to the extremely long waits that ride gets right now because half the ride (1 out of the 2 elevators) is down for refurbishment making the capacity for how many guests can get on very low.
Rope Drop: Again if this is a once in a lifetime trip I recommend Rope dropping slinky dog, followed immediately with riding toy story mania and then alien swirling saucers (this strategy will let you ride 3 rides with small wait, vs wasting a lot of time in line for Rise which will have a huge line regardless of time of day. Be aware that slinky too may already have a prohibitively long wait at this point due to early entry. If this is the case you instead could opt to rope drop Mickey's Runaway Railway instead.
ILLS: After purchasing Genie+ at 7 for slinky immediately buy rise of the resistance for whatever time available. In addition to purchasing rise if you want to ride it a second time I recommend jumping in line at the very end of the day last minute before park closing (you can get into line for any ride in any of the theme parks 1 minute before official park close and you will still be able to wait in line and ride it even if the park is technically closed.)

Epcot:
7 am Genie+: Test Track or Frozen Ever After (Personally I would try for test track first and select Frozen for my second ride.)
Rope Drop: like rise, Remy's will already have such a long wait already due to early entry that it would be pointless to try and rope drop it. My Recommendation would be to rope drop Soarin (if you rope drop soarin there may not be a long line yet. This is important because if you are very nice ask the cast member to sit you in concourse b. This section of the ride has the best ride experience and may be easier to request at rope drop). After you rope drop Soarin the easiest thing to knock out with little wait would be Space Ship Earth or Living with the Land. (Again try to get Frozen as your second Genie+)
ILLS: You could buy Remy's if you want to ride it twice but as you said you don't need to since you've rode it in Paris. My only other suggestion is like Rise you could jump in line at the end of the night which would allow you to ride it once without paying.

Magic Kingdom:
7am Genie+: Jungle Cruise ( second Genie+ Peter Pans Flight or any Mountain). With Magic Kingdom since you have 2 days you could adjust your selections based on what you ride the first day. But you will get better use by trying for the earliest genie + option regardless of what ride it is.
Rope Drop: Everyone else will head straight for seven Dwarfs Mine Train or Jungle Cruise. So you should instead head for either Space Mountain or Thunder Mountain. If you rope drop Thunder Mountain you may be able to jump in line for Splash immediately after with little wait knocking out 2 big Mountain rides quickly. (Since you have genie+ and ILLS you don't have to worry about rope dropping Jungle or seven dwarfs).
ILLS: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. And as suggested above if you really want to ride it a second time do so at night or right before park closing. (My Recommendation: If you watch Enchantment Fireworks on your first MK day you don't need to see them again your second day. Instead 30-45 mins depending on the ride wait time, before the Fireworks on night 2 get in line for seven Dwarfs. If you do this and luck is on your side you will be able to enjoy the Fireworks while riding a very magical experience.)

As for T-mobile: I have it, it works great for me and I've had no issues with it at disney.

Best of Luck

I must amend one point stated above regarding Hollywood studios ILLS:

Since you are staying off site you will not be able to even attempt to get an ILLS for Rise until official park open. This means that it is highly unlikely you will be able to get one at all as they will likely already be booked up by guests staying on property who can purchase ILLS at 7am. The rest of the advice holds true your best course of action is to get in line right before park close.
 
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turbolaaf

New Member
Original Poster
For Animal Kingdom I would LL Flight of Passage, Everest is usually a short wait time. Genie + the Safari ride. Uber will probably drop you off right at the bus stop, but you my have to pay for a parking pass. Maybe try to be dropped off at Animal Kingdom Lodge and then take the resort bus to the park.

For Hollywood Studio's, LL Rise of the Resistance, and Mickey's Runaway Railway, both are well worth it. Genie + as many rides as possible here, especially Tower of Terror and Slinky Dog Dash. This park has more guest than attractions long lines are everywhere. If Uber want drop you off at the park, try being dropped off at the Carribean Skyliner Station and then ride the Skyliner right to the park (this could work for Epcot as well).

Epcot I would LL Frozen, if you have no ambition to ride Ratatouille. Genie + Test Track always a long wait, and Soarin.

Magic Kingdom is easy. The walk from Contemporary is not that bad, if not they probably will drop you off at the Tranportation and Ticket Center and then you could fight the crowd on the Monorail. As for rides LL Seven Dawn's MT, and Space Mountain at peak times these reach well over 120 min. Genie + everything especially Jungle Cruise, Peter Pans Flight, Big Thunder, Splash and Haunted Mansion.

I know you will read bad things about Lightning Lane and Genie+, but me and my son used it over Christmas break last year and it worked great. We were able to do everything in Studio's and Animal in a half a day each. This gave us time to do other things, like spending extra time in Magic Kingdom and dinner and Cirque d' Soliel at Disney Springs ( which I highly recommend, excellent show, well worth the cost). The best advice anyone can give you is, do your vacation your way, and have fun. Happy travels.
Thank you so much, this helps a lot. Is it still usefull to buy the ILL since we can't get them until park opening?
 
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turbolaaf

New Member
Original Poster
For more wdw genie+ tips I highly recommend checking out the YouTube channel: TouringPlans. They have 4 videos published recently on their touring plans teaches videos that go into a lot of genie+ and ILLs specifics.
How I've got to use the Genie+ and ILL is pretty clear for us. It's more how to get the most of rides by using them including rope drop in these crowded day's. But I'll sure have a look at touringplans, thanks.
 
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How I've got to use the Genie+ and ILL is pretty clear for us. It's more how to get the most of rides by using them including rope drop in these crowded day's. But I'll sure have a look at touringplans, thanks.

Yes this discuss this topic in particular in genie 201 which is why I suggested the videos
 
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The only one that you would have a hard time securing would be Rise if even possible. All the others ( 7 Dwarfs, Remy's, Flight of Passage) you should be able to get if you want them at park open.

As for useful: that is way too subjective for anyone to decide for you and I would be very skeptical of listening to anyone who tries to convince you one way or another. There are too many issues at play for example: how much of strain is it on your budget, have you ridden something before or will you ever get another opportunity, how long are you willing to wait standby, are you hoping to ride something twice...these are just some of the factors that could make the purchase of a ILLS useful for some and completely useless for others. You will need to weigh the pros and cons for your situation.
 
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turbolaaf

New Member
Original Poster
As for useful: that is way too subjective for anyone to decide for you and I would be very skeptical of listening to anyone who tries to convince you one way or another. There are too many issues at play for example: how much of strain is it on your budget, have you ridden something before or will you ever get another opportunity, how long are you willing to wait standby, are you hoping to ride something twice...these are just some of the factors that could make the purchase of a ILLS useful for some and completely useless for others. You will need to weigh the pros and cons for your situation.
Let's say we're just going there once a lifetime and budget is not a "thing". I've been in WDW 19 years ago, but doing this again with my family just is something that is priceless. We really would like to ride ROR and FOP, but getting in line for a 180min queue is not done with our kids. Therefore we hope that the rope drop is going to save time. We have no intention to ride them twice. FOP is a one day park for us, so this one has to be done in that day. ROR is a 2 day park for us which gives us some more options. I'm sure that things can change when getting there, but any advice in advance to get things done is a plus.
 
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Let's say we're just going there once a lifetime and budget is not a "thing". I've been in WDW 19 years ago, but doing this again with my family just is something that is priceless. We really would like to ride ROR and FOP, but getting in line for a 180min queue is not done with our kids. Therefore we hope that the rope drop is going to save time. We have no intention to ride them twice. FOP is a one day park for us, so this one has to be done in that day. ROR is a 2 day park for us which gives us some more options. I'm sure that things can change when getting there, but any advice in advance to get things done is a plus.

I wrote a long post yesterday on my Recommendations for you. Unfortunately it's still waiting on moderator approval before they'll post it ( I'm assuming because it's so long). When it does get posted you'll likely get many "answers" you seek. I'll be happy, to answer other questions after, but don't want to repeat myself just yet.
 
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turbolaaf

New Member
Original Poster
I wrote a long post yesterday on my Recommendations for you. Unfortunately it's still waiting on moderator approval before they'll post it ( I'm assuming because it's so long). When it does get posted you'll likely get many "answers" you seek. I'll be happy, to answer other questions after, but don't want to repeat myself just yet.
Can't you repost it? My topic has been deleted as well when posted it. After posting it again, it was allowed. A personal message could do it as well. I really hope it get trough since any advice is great. So far you did help us well. Really appreciate it.
 
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MotherofaPrincessLover

Well-Known Member
Just remember, "rope drop" when staying offsite is not the same as it used to be because resort guests get in the park half an hour earlier than offsite guests. The top rides will already have waits by the time you can access them.
 
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turbolaaf

New Member
Original Poster
Just remember, "rope drop" when staying offsite is not the same as it used to be because resort guests get in the park half an hour earlier than offsite guests. The top rides will already have waits by the time you can access them.
I'm aware of that. But we have to try something next to Genie+ to ride the top 2 attractions with a ILL.
 
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