Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[cjlong88]

Good to hear, we have a ressie on NY Day now I really can't wait. Anything specifically that you ordered that you loved?

I had the filet. Cooked perfectly and the risotto was amazing. Husband got the scallops and that was also delicious. The surprise for me was the salmon - excellent! They come with these potato dumplings that are pillowy and have great flavor.

 

[cjlong88]

Wednesday Dec 28th. Started at AK with LL's for Dinosaur, Everest, and FoP. Grabbed drinks at Nomad Lounge before heading back to YC for some much deserved nap and pool time. Enjoyed World Showcase with LL's for Remy and Guardians. Took the monorail over to MK to enjoy Extended Evening Hours. Stacked throughout the afternoon so we had LL's for Big Thunder, HM, and Jingle Cruise before the start of EEH, then enjoyed Pirates and Space with short lines before calling it a night.

Awesome day. Super tiring, but we got a lot done using G+.

 

[SwanVT2]

Wednesday Dec 28th. Started at AK with LL's for Dinosaur, Everest, and FoP. Grabbed drinks at Nomad Lounge before heading back to YC for some much deserved nap and pool time. Enjoyed World Showcase with LL's for Remy and Guardians. Took the monorail over to MK to enjoy Extended Evening Hours. Stacked throughout the afternoon so I had LL's for Big Thunder, HM, and Jingle Cruise before the start of EEH, then enjoyed Pirates and Space with short lines before calling it a night.

Awesome day. Super tiring, but we got a lot done using G+.

I thought FoP was only LL and not GEnie plus or did you do a combination of both? Sounds like you got a lot done!

 

[cjlong88]

I thought FoP was only LL and not GEnie plus or did you do a combination of both? Sounds like you got a lot done!

We purchased FoP and Guardians that day. I should have clarified! My in-laws most likely won't return for a very long time so we are forking over the dough to do all the things with minimal wait. Pre-purchasing G+ when Disney offered it way back when we booked the trip over a year ago has certainly helped us only worry about the cost of ILL$ on this trip (which are mighty expensive!).

 

[jvalic33]

I had the filet. Cooked perfectly and the risotto was amazing. Husband got the scallops and that was also delicious. The surprise for me was the salmon - excellent! They come with these potato dumplings that are pillowy and have great flavor.

Sounds yummy. We loved our last 2 meals there but that was over 3 years ago.

 

[dorchrislen]

Wednesday Dec 28th. Started at AK with LL's for Dinosaur, Everest, and FoP. Grabbed drinks at Nomad Lounge before heading back to YC for some much deserved nap and pool time. Enjoyed World Showcase with LL's for Remy and Guardians. Took the monorail over to MK to enjoy Extended Evening Hours. Stacked throughout the afternoon so we had LL's for Big Thunder, HM, and Jingle Cruise before the start of EEH, then enjoyed Pirates and Space with short lines before calling it a night.

Awesome day. Super tiring, but we got a lot done using G+.

You are my Touring hero!

 

[isabellea]

First day back at WDW after a 4 years absence. Bought G+ (29$x4=way too much money after converting to canadian $) and ILL$ for FOP.

12/29: Early entry (7:30am) at AK was awesome! Was on Navi’ at 7:35am then did Everest 2x with no wait followed by the pre-historic Dumbo and Dinosaur, again with no wait. Our first G+ was for Safari at 9:00am (standby line was incredibly long). After tapping, I booked a G+ for the FOTLK 9:30am show. Took the train and did the Animation Experience at 11:30am. Next G+ was for Everest at 2pm but later modified its time to 5:40pm, just before our ADR at Yak and Yeti. 3rd and last G+ was for Kali Rapids at 2:35pm but it was down when it was our time. Got an anytime ILL$ and used it later. We ended up watching taking a break at the boneyard, watching It’s tough to be a bug (20 min wait) and my family decided to wait for FOP (second run) at 7:30pm.

After our last G+ I could’ve book Nemo, the bird show, it’s tough to be a bug or the Animation Experience but my family were not interested.

I would say that today, G+ was 100% worth it. I hate paying for it but at some point, nothing worth riding was below 60 min, with FOP at 215 min and Navi’s at 135 min!!! Crazy wait times but luckily, we didn’t wait more than 20 min for anything (except second run of FOP).

 

[cjlong88]

Thursday December 29th. Family slept in. I woke up at 7am to book Rise and Slinky. Snuck in a quick work out and then enjoyed the quiet pool and hot tub all to myself in the morning. Met up the family and we headed to the Boardwalk for some pizza and beer before walking into EPCOT for our Behind the Seeds tour. It was an awesome experience and our tour guide was super funny and informative.

We finished the Olaf scavenger hunt and then made it back to YC for a siesta before enjoying food at Crews Cup Lounge. Then we walked to HS where we enjoyed Rise, Slinky, TSM, and RnRC (thanks, LL stacking!). Standby lines were super long but the park itself felt fairly empty. Grabbed some ice cream after hitting all four attractions back-to-back and now just waiting for Fantasmic to start. I've never seen this show before so I'm super excited! Another great day at Disney for us. The trip has really be great so far!

 

[Richie248]

Thursday December 29th. Family slept in. I woke up at 7am to book Rise and Slinky. Snuck in a quick work out and then enjoyed the quiet pool and hot tub all to myself in the morning. Met up the family and we headed to the Boardwalk for some pizza and beer before walking into EPCOT for our Behind the Seeds tour. It was an awesome experience and our tour guide was super funny and informative.

We finished the Olaf scavenger hunt and then made it back to YC for a siesta before enjoying food at Crews Cup Lounge. Then we walked to HS where we enjoyed Rise, Slinky, TSM, and RnRC (thanks, LL stacking!). Standby lines were super long but the park itself felt fairly empty. Grabbed some ice cream after hitting all four attractions back-to-back and now just waiting for Fantasmic to start. I've never seen this show before so I'm super excited! Another great day at Disney for us. The trip has really be great so far!

Loving the play-by-play. I have coworkers at Disney this week and they are miserable because they didn't listen to my advice on stacking, rope drop, planning etc..... Sounds like your trip has been amazing thus far! WOOHOO!

 

[Tk0021]

Still here but leaving today. We did 12/25 to 12/29 in the parks. Really busy, but genie plus really helped. We got at least 6 rides every day with it. Refreshing really works. I got times for rides that said no LL’s left by refreshing a lot. It can take while, but it pays off.

 

[leeniewdw]

Thursday December 29th. Family slept in. I woke up at 7am to book Rise and Slinky. Snuck in a quick work out and then enjoyed the quiet pool and hot tub all to myself in the morning. Met up the family and we headed to the Boardwalk for some pizza and beer before walking into EPCOT for our Behind the Seeds tour. It was an awesome experience and our tour guide was super funny and informative.

We finished the Olaf scavenger hunt and then made it back to YC for a siesta before enjoying food at Crews Cup Lounge. Then we walked to HS where we enjoyed Rise, Slinky, TSM, and RnRC (thanks, LL stacking!). Standby lines were super long but the park itself felt fairly empty. Grabbed some ice cream after hitting all four attractions back-to-back and now just waiting for Fantasmic to start. I've never seen this show before so I'm super excited! Another great day at Disney for us. The trip has really be great so far!

Thank you SO much for your "live" reports, they've been very helpful.

We have a 7am flight in 8 days. I will need to hope (for once lol) that we don't depart early so I can get my 7am selections done before take off.

What I'm understanding from your posts is that now, with the "modify" option", I could select a LL at 7am for a return time at 10:45am, which could be pushing it for our arrival, ride to resort and then park, etc. Upon landing at 8:45am, I could modify that return time to a window that is now available, say 1pm, and it would not reset my timer. Meaning that at 10:30am (2 hours after park opening), I would still be eligible to select my next LL?

 

[cjlong88]

Thank you SO much for your "live" reports, they've been very helpful.

We have a 7am flight in 8 days. I will need to hope (for once lol) that we don't depart early so I can get my 7am selections done before take off.

What I'm understanding from your posts is that now, with the "modify" option", I could select a LL at 7am for a return time at 10:45am, which could be pushing it for our arrival, ride to resort and then park, etc. Upon landing at 8:45am, I could modify that return time to a window that is now available, say 1pm, and it would not reset my timer. Meaning that at 10:30am (2 hours after park opening), I would still be eligible to select my next LL?

You are correct! Book something to start that 120 minute timer, then refresh to a time or ride that works better for you.

 

[Landry]

Thank you SO much for your "live" reports, they've been very helpful.

We have a 7am flight in 8 days. I will need to hope (for once lol) that we don't depart early so I can get my 7am selections done before take off.

What I'm understanding from your posts is that now, with the "modify" option", I could select a LL at 7am for a return time at 10:45am, which could be pushing it for our arrival, ride to resort and then park, etc. Upon landing at 8:45am, I could modify that return time to a window that is now available, say 1pm, and it would not reset my timer. Meaning that at 10:30am (2 hours after park opening), I would still be eligible to select my next LL?

Be careful waiting that long if your first selection is something that will be sold out by 8:45am (like Slinky). You may want to book something and then wait 30-90 seconds and try to modify again in case the ride you booked is moving quickly.

 

[leeniewdw]

Be careful waiting that long if your first selection is something that will be sold out by 8:45am (like Slinky). You may want to book something and then wait 30-90 seconds and try to modify again in case the ride you booked is moving quickly.

Yes, thank you for that reminder!

This is our 3rd time with G+, but first time with other people in our party and first time with the Modify option. My example was just purely for making sure the 120 minute timer won't reset on modify.

For our travel day, we will be heading to HS first and at 7am I'll have to grab something as we're literally backing out of the gate. Odds are I'll grab Slinky and then buy RotR and FoP. If I'm extremely lucky and get SDD for midday/early afternoon, I'm golden. If it's later, I'll keep checking until it's phones off or check when we land and maybe grab one of the other rides that are now in our doable return window.

 

[fbarker]

just looking at 1:00pm wait times and it seems to be quite the busy day at WDW:

MAGIC KINGDOM:
Swiss Family Treehouse: Closed
Jungle Cruise: 95mins
POC: 75mins
SM: 85 mins
BTM: 80 mins
HH: 25 mins (the best choice!!)
Small World: 55 mins
PP: 70 mins
Phiharmagic: 15 mins
Journey of the Little Mermaid: 45 mins
SDM: 115 mins
Barnstormer: 40 mins
Dumbo: 30 mins
Speedway: 45 mins
Space Mountain: Closed
AO: 45 mins
Buzz: 60 mins


and other parks with long waits.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Yup, it's Christmas + New Year's. It's THE busiest week of the entire year. Universal's wait times are similar.

 

[ars0525]

But the People Mover is only 10 minutes so it's good

 

[cjlong88]

Thursday December 29th. We woke up around 8am and got ready. Took a bus to AK and checked in to our Wild Africa Trek. Amazing experience and definitely worth the cost -- the food was delicious, the bridge crossings were a fun experience, and we got exceptionally close to giraffes. We then rode Everest with a LL I booked earlier in the morning.

Headed to Disney Springs to get a new pair of shoes. Now we are just chilling at the resort until the evening. Will eat around World Showcase for dinner tonight. Was going to visit MK tonight, but we have already gotten our MK fix two nights ago during DEEH. So most likely we will lie low and have a chill evening at YC.

ETA: the quiet pool at YC is absolutely wonderful. It's 8:25pm and I'm the only person here. I have the entire place to myself!

 

[mom22boys]

Thursday December 29th. Family slept in. I woke up at 7am to book Rise and Slinky. Snuck in a quick work out and then enjoyed the quiet pool and hot tub all to myself in the morning. Met up the family and we headed to the Boardwalk for some pizza and beer before walking into EPCOT for our Behind the Seeds tour. It was an awesome experience and our tour guide was super funny and informative.

We finished the Olaf scavenger hunt and then made it back to YC for a siesta before enjoying food at Crews Cup Lounge. Then we walked to HS where we enjoyed Rise, Slinky, TSM, and RnRC (thanks, LL stacking!). Standby lines were super long but the park itself felt fairly empty. Grabbed some ice cream after hitting all four attractions back-to-back and now just waiting for Fantasmic to start. I've never seen this show before so I'm super excited! Another great day at Disney for us. The trip has really be great so far!

I am also loving the play-by-play. Thank you so much!

So how was Fantasmic? Do you recommend it? We have visited WDW more times than I should admit to since 2002 and have never seen it.

 

[cjlong88]

I am also loving the play-by-play. Thank you so much!

So how was Fantasmic? Do you recommend it? We have visited WDW more times than I should admit to since 2002 and have never seen it.

We enjoyed Fantasmic! The second show was super easy to get into. We got in line about 25 minutes prior and had a great seat.