Help me plan my March trip — Update: now cancelled 😕

Readers of my thread in La Cava will know that I’ve booked a trip in March. I’ll be in the parks from 12-15th March inclusive. I haven’t made APRs yet, but I will have park hoppers.

For reasons explained in that thread, the trip may not take place. The purpose of this thread is to make the trip so fabulous that I take it any way.

I want to be fairly strict with budget, so no TS meals unless there’s a compelling reason. No up-charge events like dessert parties or After Hours.

Obviously Harmonious. I thought I’d never see it again, now I’ll have the chance for one (or two) (or three) last times. Zero interest in Enchantment, unless I do it in an interesting way, e.g. from the bottom of Main Street to see the projections there. Or from PM. Though I’m far more interested in projections than I am fireworks.

I’ve booked a Fantasmic! dining package — at Sci-Fi. I’ve never been to Sci-Fi, so I’m a little bit excited about that. And I’ve only seen F! once — and that was in August 2017. I can be argued into cancelling this reservation if people argue it’s bad value or unnecessary. (It’s for the first show: is there still more than one?)

I could be bullied into booking Caring for Giants, or Up Close with Rhinos, or both. I love animals.

I’m staying on-property so Early Entry is a possibility. I was planning on rope-dropping during my June trip because of the heat later in the day. Is EE necessary or desirable in March? I’m not ride obsessed, so if I don’t get to ride FOP at all I’m not that bothered, for example.

I do want to ride GOTG. Am I right that you basically have to choose whether to shoot for a BG or buy an ILL because both are available from 7am and if you miss one, you will have missed the other?

I’m kinda reluctant to buy Genie+. I could be argued into it.

Is there anyone I can suck up to who’ll get me a ride on Tron?

Diningwise, I’m thinking the various lounges and places like Ronto Roasters. Don’t want to spend a lot. Oh, festival booths. Can’t think of any TS restaurants I’m gagging to eat at. Historically I’ve liked to start the day with breakfast and I’m staying at Pop so can Skyline to various hotel breakfast options. But not if I’m rope-dropping, I guess.

It occurs to me that this will be my last visit during the 50th. Anything special I should try to include in that area?

Hit me with your ideas!

Oh, and if you’re going to be in the parks at the same time, let me know. We might be able to do a Liner meet!

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In October, I got the BG first then bought an ILL. No problems doing both on one phone.

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The Flower and Garden festival at Epcot has amazing topiaries. Check them ALL out by walking around Epcot.

I’ll be staying at Pop on a girls trip but we fly home on March 12. I see that you are arriving on the 12th. Maybe we can bump in to each other?

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I think the dining packages for F! are annoying as far as cost, but still worth it. If it were just me, hands down I’d do it again. My issue is we are a family of 5.

If you are willing to use BG1 you will get the VQ easily. Period. And possibly still have time to buy ILL if you want.

I would say 100% yes to G+ if you go to HS. The other parks could be argued down to wait and see. And my brain just caught up to me and told me that if you’re going to F! you are clearly going to HS. So there you go. :rofl:

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That was a genius idea to get you at Sci-fi, bundling it with F!

Word on the street is that right now the temp is 90 degrees. I’m hoping it breaks a bit to a more reasonable temperature of low to mid 80s. You may still want to rope drop.

Move your dates to include 3/6 and I’ll get you on. I have 14 passes and not all of my party are going to ride. Especially the 3 infants that are included in that number.

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I don’t think so. I have booked other things at 7 and then proceeded to book my GotG ILL.

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If you’re going to buy it, for SURE use BG1. The interface is so much simpler and makes it fun to use.

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I can’t even imagine life without BG1 anymore.

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Right!?

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Which makes me a bit resentful - why can’t Disney make things easier for everyone?

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Because they don’t value what technology done right can offer their guests. They keep redirecting IT money to different areas that appear to be bigger problems to solve.

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@sanstitre_has_left_the_building it’s a no brainer… us enablers err liners have given you the answers.

  1. SciFi is great
  2. GotG is a must do twice a day experience. Get your BG first then the ILL
  3. Genie+ is a yes
  4. Use BG1
  5. Enjoy the trip
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In my recent TR :roll_eyes:, I talk about Up Close with Rhinos and Caring for Giants.

https://forum.touringplans.com/t/a-universally-wonderful-world-celebration/92037/73?u=mathhound

TL;DR
Up Close with Rhinos is fantastic!
Caring for Giants is good.

Doing both is great, but do Giants first.
If you only do one do Rhinos.
If you want the possibility of touching a Rhino do Rhinos.
Rhinos is harder to get it’s once a day at 11 am. Giants has multiple options each day.

Consider this me bullying you to do Rhinos!!

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Don’t bully @sanstitre_has_left_the_building !

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He asked us to do it!!

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I’m just doing what he asked!

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We had that for our trip earlier this month for lunch. We got 2 meals worth of food and reserved seating for the show for the the price of the dining package. The dining package got center view. We showed up about 30 minutes before showtime, no line, and 3/4 of the way up was filled in the reserved area. We sat ourselves. There was a standby line and the CMs were seating guests on the far stage right.

It was our first time at Sci-Fi. It’s a cool experience. The food is good. Didn’t care for our dessert and how we really couldn’t see our food because it is so dark in there!

It’s $49/person plus tax & tip. It comes with a nonalcoholic drink, an appetizer or dessert, and an entree. If you fiddle with what to order, you can get your money’s worth. I ordered the special burger. I should have ordered it bunless because I had trouble finishing it even without the bun! DH ordered the salmon pasta. We shared an appetizer of wings (4 pieces) and dessert (Didn’t like the dessert. Should have stuck with ice cream.) It was WAY too much food for us! We were so full, we couldn’t eat for the rest of the day! Therefore, the dining package was an excellent value, if you like being so full. Pictures of our food are here: https://forum.touringplans.com/t/chip-n-dale-host-their-friends-at-their-fl-home/92283/176?u=stlouie. I aimed my flashlight at the food and DH took the pictures. :laughing:

Would we do it again? Yes and we tend to be frugal! We felt that the dining package made for a more relaxing day.

If you do EE or close out a park, I don’t think you need Genie+ for Epcot or AK. I would definitely get it for HS. We bought ILL for RISE, too. And maybe for MK.

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And definitely use BG1! It may sound intimidating but it’s super easy to use! Virtual Queue for Comic was seamless. We got BG 4 the first day and BG 1 the second day for Cosmic. Here are the screenshots for Virtual Queue on BG1. It’s very similar for LL at 7 am. We got onto all the rides we wanted with BG1 at HS. We also had EE and ILL for RISE but I think we could have done TSM and ASS with Genie+ instead of during EE.

ETA link to screen shots for Virtual Queue.

https://forum.touringplans.com/t/new-genie-ll-guardians-bg1-link/86504/3332?u=stlouie

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Definitely do the Sci Fi/Fantasmic package.
Unpopular opinion here, but I thought Caring for Giants was boring. It was kind of cool to see the backstage area, but at the same time there are things I don’t want to know/see.
What stuffie are you planning to take with you? We need to know. :yum:

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It will be Thomas’s first trip.

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