HS after 5pm doing standby

ilovetotravel1977

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I wasn't sure if I sure ask this here or in the Genie+ forum...

We will be arriving Nov 27 (Sun), and looking at going to HS around 5pm until close. I wasn't going to bother buying G+ for that day and just trying to knock out one, maybe two, bigger rides during those four hours via standby (i.e. ROTS, MF, MMRR). We do have another whole day planned for HS and will buy G+ for that.

Realistic to do one of those rides at that time of night without it? Party of 7 if that matters.
 

Raxel7851

Well-Known Member
That’s quite a bit of scratch ($105) for that short period of time. Plus there’s no guarantee with using Genie+ you’ll get the times you’ll need. I think I’d use that $105 for a full day on your trip. I’m not an up to date Genie+ guru, however maybe someone else here can give their thoughts on how difficult it might be to secure 7 slots at the same time. I’ve only used Genie+ 1 time to acquaint myself with it. And after that 1 time, I do believe I’ll pass on it in the future. Good Luck though. I hope you have an awesome trip. We enjoy going that time of year.
 

MickeyLuv'r

Well-Known Member
Other folks have reported buying Genie+ or ILL for arrival day and booking late passes. (also called stacking late passes) Though in most examples, they planned to arrive more like 3pm. It might be possible to buy just a single ILL for your evening instead, as a way to knock out 1 attraction. One thing to consider is that unlike FP+, when you book Genie+, time windows can overlap. So you can have a pass for 6:00-7pm and a pass for 6:35-7:35pm. I wouldn't want them to overlap too much, (it still takes time to get through each attraction) but you don't have to space them a full hour apart.

Having 7 in your party probably doesn't matter all that much in terms of getting Genie+ passes, as long as you are all linked in MDE.

The only other big consideration is a question of the how/were of your arrival(s). Traffic and flight delays are pretty common, especially near the holidays.
 

ilovetotravel1977

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
That’s quite a bit of scratch ($105) for that short period of time. Plus there’s no guarantee with using Genie+ you’ll get the times you’ll need. I think I’d use that $105 for a full day on your trip.
We have 5-day base tickets and staying for 7 nights. We don't do parks on Saturdays (too busy), and likely doing a Christmas party / After hours during the week. So that leaves us with an extra "day". That's why I was thinking of using a day on arrival knowing how hard it is get all of the headliner rides done at HS in one attempt.
 

jasminethecat

Well-Known Member
We have 5-day base tickets and staying for 7 nights. We don't do parks on Saturdays (too busy), and likely doing a Christmas party / After hours during the week. So that leaves us with an extra "day". That's why I was thinking of using a day on arrival knowing how hard it is get all of the headliner rides done at HS in one attempt.
Just thinking about this out loud...and sorry this is a long post but I find this type of trip planning interesting.

You will be down starting the sunday after thanksgiving for 7 nights.

Nov 27th - sunday, partial evening in a park possibly?
28th - monday, park day 1
29th - tuesday, park day 2
30th - wednesday, park day 3
Dec 1st - thursday, park day 4
2nd - friday, park day 5
3rd - saturday - you don't go to parks on a saturday?
4th - sunday - fly out.

If this above is really the situation based on what you said, why aren't you flying back saturday? Flight prices? If you wanted a break during your trip I would honestly put it sometime in the middle of the week. Also if you can get a christmas party event, just take the morning/early afternoon off that day and go only in for the event itself, then use the 5th park day on saturday, otherwise you're somewhat wasting your full day ticket by combining it with the expensive christmas party, which includes admission.

Then your trip might look like this:
Nov 27th - sunday, partial evening in a park possibly?
28th - monday, park day 1
29th - tuesday, park day 2
30th - wednesday, park day 3
Dec 1st - thursday, rest at the resort and christmas party in MK
2nd - friday, park day 4
3rd - saturday - park day 5
4th - sunday - fly out.

If you cannot get into an after hours party, i would seriously consider getting an extra 6th park day in there for Saturday to "mop up" any unfinished business you might have at MK or HS. I used to book like this when free dining was a thing, for 5+ people, the dining was more exensive for large groups than the hotel room was, and number of meals was based on the number of nights. But for that free dining trip you had to book the saturday before thanksgiving or earlier.
 

ilovetotravel1977

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Then your trip might look like this:
Nov 27th - sunday, partial evening in a park possibly?
28th - monday, park day 1
29th - tuesday, park day 2
30th - wednesday, park day 3
Dec 1st - thursday, rest at the resort and christmas party in MK
2nd - friday, park day 4
3rd - saturday - park day 5
4th - sunday - fly out.

Yes, this is what we are doing. I mean, I guess we could try the Saturday? Is there a better park to go to that day?
 

Patcheslee

Well-Known Member
You could try standby for either of the Individual Lightning Lane rides on your partial day to possibly save some $ and if you don't manage that, you'll still have another day to try or book them if it's important to you.
 

ilovetotravel1977

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
You could try standby for either of the Individual Lightning Lane rides on your partial day to possibly save some $ and if you don't manage that, you'll still have another day to try or book them if it's important to you.

Yes, that is what I was thinking of doing. Try to knock out a ride or two at HS on the partial day via standby.
 

Diamond Dot

Well-Known Member
Don't. I tried it and if you are very very very lucky you may get on one ride with a long wait. There isn't even a fireworks show at the moment. Any other park, but, not DHS
 

MissingDisney

Well-Known Member
Yes, that is what I was thinking of doing. Try to knock out a ride or two at HS on the partial day via standby.
We just returned from a 2 week trip and did HS for the evenings several nights and did a TON!

.The days we tried to go were crazy busy (spring break at its best!) and didn’t get a whole lot done and usually hopped elsewhere but the evenings, going in around 5 or 6, seemed to be the sweet spot. We rode RnRC, MMRR, MF, TSMM with 30 mins or less waits. We found the wait times posted in the evenings were heavily exaggerated and while they said 60-75 mins the most we waited was 30 mins. RnRC was walk on 3 nights at 8:45 while everyone else was either tired out and leaving or watching the projection show. We rode RnRC at 8:40, zipped over to RotR and jumped in line about 8:50. We waited about 35-40 mins for that (posted 90 mins) but it was a lot better than the daytime waits!
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom