Trip Report But who's keeping track?

I will make my 43rd (ish) trip to Walt Disney World (still not totally sure how many Florida trips in my youth actually involved WDW)

I will write my 26th Trip Report (re-reading those old ones, what was I thinking?)

We will drive 940 miles, only stopping for quick food and bathrooms (if making good time, maybe a short sleep break)

We will stay in our 21st different WDW resort (depending on how you count DVC vs hotel for some)

We will experience 1 brand new attraction (hopefully more than once)

We will experience 1 favorite attraction that has recently be changed (and are a bit scared by it)

I will experience at least one brand new table service restaurant (and a surprising one, at that)

Our daughter will experience her first true backstage WDW tour (@MeffysMom and I did this one before)

We MAY have our first Genie+ experience (and maybe our last as well??)

But there's really no reason to keep track of all these things. Just join me for a brief pre-trip and then live reporting from WDW.

Couple additional pre-thoughts (that didn't have good Disney pictures to go along)... We will spend far too much money (although we've got quite a bit stored up on Disney Rewards). We will partake in too much food and drink (always claim that I won't, but good luck with that). We will have a heckuva good time despite some obstacles (I think I'm willing to guarantee that, we always do). See you soon!

 

[lindawdw]

This was such a great TR and you certainly made the most of your Genie+! I'm not a fan of the monetized FP either and although we did buy it last December since my grown daughters insisted on getting it, my DH and I have decided that we will wait on standby when we go without them. Your post of the Keys to the Kingdom Tour made me realize just how much I want to do this on a future trip!! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

 

[Wicked Sisters]

Many thanks for such an interesting report. Loved reading about the Keys to the Kingdom tour and your thoughts on Genie +. Hope your daughter enjoys her time studying abroad.

 

[MickeyCB]

So love your trip reports and admire your mad energy levels!!

 

[brifraz]

Loved your report! Thanks for sharing your Genie+ information. So happy you had a good trip. Best of luck to your daughter on her study abroad experience!

Thanks! She is in Spain now and seems to be having a good time already.

Thanks for giving me something so fun to read with my morning coffee

Glad to be of service!

Great finish and I can't wait to see @MeffysMom dressed up as BOOTS!!

I don't think that suggestion went over as well as I'd hoped...

This was such a great TR and you certainly made the most of your Genie+! I'm not a fan of the monetized FP either and although we did buy it last December since my grown daughters insisted on getting it, my DH and I have decided that we will wait on standby when we go without them. Your post of the Keys to the Kingdom Tour made me realize just how much I want to do this on a future trip!! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

Still formulating some of my thoughts on Genie+ and whether we will use it again. The tour is great - lots of info and cool to peek behind the scenes. Definitely try to get the 9:30am tour so you can see some parade prep going on. I think we got a little more of that than most do b/c our tour guide was a bit rushed in the beginning (she was pretty new to the gig) so we had some extra time to fill before lunch.

Many thanks for such an interesting report. Loved reading about the Keys to the Kingdom tour and your thoughts on Genie +. Hope your daughter enjoys her time studying abroad.

Thanks. So far, so good with Spain! (granted she's been there about 11 hours at this point, so...)

So love your trip reports and admire your mad energy levels!!

Trust me, that energy level comes at a cost sometimes. Usually when we get back from the long drive/short visit trips we have a day of recovery, but this time that wasn't the case as we had lots of prep for our daughter's trip and then 2 days in NYC to see her off (which meant another 10 hours of driving). So, the energy level today is pretty low - I'm about to drive an hour or so for a concert tonight and hoping to catch a quick early nap before leaving b/c otherwise I might not make it through the show!

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

What an awesome quick trip! The Creperie sounds awesome!

 

[brifraz]

What an awesome quick trip! The Creperie sounds awesome!

We definitely like the Creperie. Very glad that they have expanded the menu - when we first went, there were only a few savory options, but now there are more. And even more glad that you can do the Prix Fix or A La Carte. It worked out perfectly for us to get the one Prix Fix and then share the salad and the dessert crepe.

 

[RememberWhen]

We definitely like the Creperie. Very glad that they have expanded the menu - when we first went, there were only a few savory options, but now there are more. And even more glad that you can do the Prix Fix or A La Carte. It worked out perfectly for us to get the one Prix Fix and then share the salad and the dessert crepe.

So nice that they let you share. We have a reservation coming up next month and I’m really looking forward to it.

 

[brifraz]

So, Genie Plus. Was it really worth it for us? I think so. I estimate that we saved about 4 hours of line time by using it (taking the listed wait times and reducing them by about 25%). We got to ride 5 pretty major attractions with minimal waits. Had we used it for a full day (both starting bookings earlier and not bailing out at 7pm), I think we would have used it 10+ times. Would have booked Jungle first thing in the morning and then Pan-Space-Big Thunder-Pirates. After those 5, we would likely use it for things that are available immediately just to avoid those 20-40 minute lines, so maybe Buzz-Teacups-Pooh-Ariel-Dumbo. Most likely saving a total of 5-6 hours in line. I was pretty surprised by availability of things on a quite crowded mid-June day. Is 5 hours of my time in a busy park worth an additional $15? Yeah, it is. I'm certainly not a fan of paying for FP+, but (much as I don't like it) I understand the business model involved and if that's what it takes to keep me out of lines for 5 hours, I suspect I will do it again.

 

[gorillaball]

Alright, it's time for the big Magic Kingdom day!

We were up early so that we could get in for early opening and get onto Seven Dwarfs Mine Train prior to reporting to our tour. Despite a little bit of a delay (forgot the rain gear and I had to run back to the car from TTC), all three of us managed to find each other and get pretty close to the front of the line when they rope dropped. Waited maybe 5-10 minutes total. Since we now had time for another attraction, we decided to get our It's a Small World fix done early.
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All the while during both rides, I was checking into Genie Plus to see what times things were available. We had the 9:30am Keys to the Kingdom tour, so we knew we would be done about 2:30pm. Having done far too much research and looking at charts (thanks @lentesta and crew at Touring Plans) we had expected to be booking Peter Pan some time around 8am. But, it just kept staying around 12pm or 1pm as the available time. We headed to the theater (check-in is right next to the Mickey Meet and Greet entry) at about 9:15am and went ahead and booked Pan for 1:30pm since that was the latest we had seen it and were hoping that our tour would end with enough time for us to get to the ride within the 10 minutes extra they allow at the end of the window. And now it was time for...
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For those who maybe haven't done the tour before, it is a somewhat strict no cell phones/no cameras activity and (obviously) it is extremely strict about that when you are in the backstage areas. So, get ready for quite a bit of just text!

The tour started a few minutes late (some late arrivers for our group - hey folks... don't book a breakfast reservation at a resort prior to your tour without more than enough time to get to MK) with getting the headsets all figured out so we could hear our guide. The first topic was a little discussion about the Keys and what they are and why everyone at Disney is supposed to keep them in mind while they work. Then we headed down Main Street to take a look at and learn more about numerous of the windows on the second floor and who those people were and their importance to Magic Kingdom. The last window, of course, was Walt's by the ice cream parlor. Then we headed into Adventureland and continued to get lots of information about the attractions, their development and their implementation.

The first attraction of the tour was the Jungle Cruise, but without the usual Skipper spiel. Our tour guide provided lots of background information on the ride as well as other good Disney tidbits as we rode and also kept the lights on in the temple for a bit of a better view. Following the Jungle Cruise, we walked (and continued to get good background information) to the Frontierland train station area, but (after a short bathroom break) headed backstage at that point. The main components of this portion of being backstage was learning about the garbage and water systems, seeing the ride and maintenance buildings, and seeing parade floats being worked on. We had read online that you WANT to get the 9:30am tour because it will put you backstage right as the parade is getting ready to go on. And that was no joke! It was very cool. Not only did we see each of the floats going through preparations, but we also got to see characters getting ready for their portions of the parade as well. No gritty details here, but it's something that I guarantee you will never forget if you get to see it! Since it was parade-prep time, we took a few extra minutes back in that area watching things get ready to go. We then headed back onstage near Pirates and over to Pecos Bill's for our lunch.

After lunch, we walked through Frontierland and into Liberty Square, getting insight and information all the way. Next up was our ride on Haunted Mansion - entering through the coat room to bypass the line. We got some good behind the scenes info about the ride, but the actual experience was just the normal ride. We then headed into Fantasyland, once again getting additional background and development info about those rides and ended up right in front of Mickey's Philharmagic. At which time, our second backstage portion of the tour began. The Utilidors! Lots of behind the scenes excitement and just overall very cool to experience that area of the parks. We walked a bit more of the Utilidors this time than we did about 14 years ago when @MeffysMom and I did this tour. Our daughter absolutely loved it! When we came back up to the second level of Magic Kingdom (IYKYK), we were just about done the adventure. After a bit more question and answer time, it was about 2:20pm so time to head to Peter Pan.

During tour breaks, I was able to also book Space Mountain for about 3:30pm and Big Thunder for 4:30pm. But, now it's time for me to take a break. The rest of the Genie Plus adventure coming soon!

Do you happen to know when they release more Keys to the Kingdom tour dates generally? It doesn't seem to be following the pattern of restaurants where it's just automatically 60 days out.