This has happened multiple times to me on our trips. I’m like “we’re burning morning hours, people!” and everyone just wants to take photos of 50th statues or whatever.
But looking back, I don’t regret that we stopped. When I just go with the flow, even if we end up waiting in longer lines, more magic tends to happen. You get tired later in the day, and never end up getting that photo at the fountain if you don’t do it right then.
100% agreed. After I get home, I plan to sit down and write some more thoughts about Genie+ and schedules and letting magic happen…
I really think it’s what I would recommend. Sure, the LL was nice for Soarin, but it’s by no means necessary there, especially if you have a whole day in the park.
Oh, and, yes, I feel confident there will be a princess or princess/superhero hybrid at our house wielding it soon. DD5 is talented that way.
Currently enjoying our afternoon break and getting ready for evening in HS. Wish us luck. And remind me when I get home to give you my rant on Disney IT and Genie+ crappiness. I’ll try not to get myself too worked up about it while I’m still here, but my advice: stay off Disney WiFi!! That better fix my problem for tomorrow, or I will be making a scene at a GET umbrella.
We had a better day today, despite it starting off a bit of a disaster. I had my phone ready to go at 7AM, and as soon as it ticked over and refreshed, it demanded I log back in - but it did not end there! It kept demanding I verify with a code from my email (which meant toggling apps to get to it), then as soon as I tapped “Tip Board”, it started over! I got stuck in an endless cycle. It happened to my dad and DH, too, but finally DH’s got through and I snatched his phone and reserved a 0940 Buzz and ILLs for HS (MMRR at 1705, RotR at 1910, the earliest left by then). I’m not gonna lie, I had a moment of tears in the bedroom by myself about my plans being foiled by something so stupid. I finally realized I was on Disney WiFi, disconnected, and broke the loop. I had 18 separate log in verification codes in my email. And then I kind of asked myself, why was I stressing out so hard about Peter Pan? Because it’s a popular ride? No one in my family cares that much about Peter Pan as a movie. And none of us have ever felt the ride was that great. So, screw it, we’re skipping Peter this visit, and I refuse to feel bad about it.
I reminded myself we would have fun no matter what, collected my adorable kids, and we headed to MK. I think we tapped in about 0815 and headed to the Fantasyland bridge. No idea how far back we were, but we headed to Winnie the Pooh, which wasn’t running, so we ditched our strollers there and walked onto Under the Sea, which the kids loved and were super excited about. On our way back to WtP, we hopped on Dumbo as a total walk-on. As we passed the lollipop sign for the 60min wait for 7DMT, we saw the fireworks go off at the castle. WtP now had just enough of a line that the kids had time to actually play with all the queue interactions, so that was nice. Took a bathroom break, collected strollers, and headed to Tomorrowland. Saw Buzz up on stage, which made my nephew’s day. Walked onto Peoplemover, but poor DD1 got freaked out in the dark in Space Mountain. Then we used our Buzz LL. I booked Splash Mountain for 1125, and that was when I first noticed that whole chunk of the park was down - HM, Splash, and Pirates. Was glad we started where we did.
Next we did Monster’s Inc, where my dad did not get a repeat performance as That Guy, sadly. While we were in there, I go the notice they were converting our Splash LL to a “Multiple Experience” LL. Then we grabbed basic food at Cosmic Ray’s, followed by dessert from Auntie Gravity’s (my family split a chocolate shake). Then I had a heart-to-heart with DD5 about Splash Mountain being down all day with no sign of return (it was already a bit past noon). She had worn her swimsuit under her dress today in anticipation of riding it. There were a few tears, but she was understanding. I told her how disappointed I was, too, because Splash was down last time I tried to ride it on our 2019 trip, and then I got evacuated off it. But we will try again!
My husband had a migraine coming on, so he headed back to the room, and my brother and I used our LLs to take the girls on Tomorrowland Speedway, which they both loved. I have to admit, as much as I hate the noise and fumes, it was pretty pleasant out there once we got going. I haven’t really talked about weather, but it’s been great! My first time to ever need a jacket at Disney!
Then, we rounded up everyone else, headed back, and took a nice long break in the room. DD1 napped over 2 hours in her pack’n’play, and DD5 cuddled on the couch with me for a while, then played some Animal Crossing, until my niece woke up, and they started playing. It was a break we needed. During it, I grabbed LLs for Toy Story Mania at 1615 and Tower of Terror at 1820.
And, I’ll have to come back, because I need sleep. Thanks for following along!
This is such a good thing to remember.
I really am going to come back with more updates, but staying busy and spending lots of kiddo time makes it hard to get to my laptop, and obviously my essays are not easy to type on the phone. So here’s pictures from last night, in the meantime.
Such great photos. The first one of your youngest on TSMM is precious.
Your daughter being “interrogated”! That is a very cool picture. I hope she didn’t crack and reveal the location of the rebel base!
Your daughters are so cute! I’m glad you’ve realized that whatever happens will be fun even if that’s not Peter Pan. 
. I had a similar moment when my friend refused to ride Rise even after I’d gotten a BG. 
. But Disney IT issues are beyond frustrating! I hope you’ve cracked the code going off of WiFi.
She did great! We had a good talk beforehand about it being pretend and no one really being in trouble. She kept quiet. My niece, however, totally threw my dad under the bus! 
Thankfully, sticking to cell service and staying off wifi altogether seems to have fixed all our issues, and has also preserved battery life in the parks.
Okay, so when I left y’all, we were taking our afternoon break in the room while I stacked LLs for the afternoon at HS. We packed up the strollers (we brought our two from home, one study Chicco workhorse, and one cheap Summer brand that’s light; my brother and SIL rented a double City Mini from ScooterBug - we’ve found it very easy to maneuver) and headed to the bus stop. We arrived at the stop a few minutes before 4PM and the board had no estimation for a HS bus and no cast member in sight. A DS bus came and went, and the board updated to HS bus arriving at 1638. After discussion, we decided to drive instead, and my brother ran back to the room for car keys… and a bus rolled up with no destination listed. And then after everyone disembarked, he announced he was heading to HS! I’m guessing he didn’t actually know and was waiting for an update. We frantically called my brother, but it was too late, so my DH loaded us onto the bus and waited for him. They drove, and we all actually tapped in at the same time. They even ended up a bit ahead of us because DD5’s MB had been linked to my DH’s fingerprint, so we had to redo at her tap.
We caught Mickey and Minnie in their cavalcade and headed to Toy Story Mania, tapping in just before 1700. All the kids LOVED it! Even DD1, just loved holding her cannon and watching everything (see above photo). The exit lane was also a big hit, with the kids climbing all over the tinkertoys for a while. We retrieved our strollers and headed to MMRR, with a break for buying popcorn buckets and inhaling them quickly. MMRR was super cute and fun, but it was so LOUD. DD1 spent the whole ride covering her ears with my hands. I don’t think any of the kids really loved it. It may be sacrilege, but I think I liked Remy better. 
Then we needed real food, so we MO’d ABC Commissary, which was tastier than I expected. DH and I split a chicken club and the frozen salted caramel cocoa. It was good, but not amazing. The kids perked up nicely after the break, and my SIL and my dad said they didn’t really feel up to Tower of Terror, so they volunteered to entertain the kids while the rest of us ran over. Timestamp says we dropped at 1924. It made me happy in my soul. I think ToT remains my favorite ride overall. I had to skip it last trip because I was pregnant and not willing to risk it. It was my DH’s first time on it - he enjoyed it, but I possibly didn’t adequately prepare him… My mom loves it as much as I do, and my brothers and I have loved it since we were teens. We had a trip sometime circa either 2002 or 2005 when it just had a lap bar, not a seatbelt, and you’d truly fly up out of your seat! We also remember there being no line at all that trip, so we rode back-to-back multiple times.
We ran back, pausing to admire the Beacon of Light a bit (but much less impressed than we were with SSE). We found the kids happy as clams playing on the example car in front of Sci-Fi Dine-In. They LOVED that car as much as any ride! They spent the next two days asking when we’d go back to it!
So, my mom and dad swapped out, with my mom and SIL promising that they didn’t mind missing out on Rise. Neither of them really cares about Star Wars at all. So, we grabbed DD5 and my niece and got to go see Batuu in the dark!
Side note, oh my god, did I underestimate how hard it is to navigate a big group through any of the parks in the dark with multiple strollers. The parks are gorgeous all lit up, but we kept losing each other!
Rise of the Resistance was every bit as amazing as y’all had promised. We tapped in for our ILL around 1930, I think. They interrogated both girls (gently); DD5 held strong and gave him nothing. My niece threw my dad under the bus as someone who “maybe knew more”. I was the only one in our family that didn’t get questioned. I was gonna tell him I had booked a flight on a budget and didn’t ask any questions. I could tell DD5 was a bit nervous about being made to feel like she was doing something wrong, but she rallied well and enjoyed herself. She told me later she hopes she can be even more brave next time.
We rounded the others back up and headed toward the exit about 2030. The kids were all in pretty good moods. DH had driven our car over, so our family rode back to BLT while the rest waited for the bus; we literally met each other at the entrance. DH had gotten a primo parking spot with that midafternoon arrival. The CM had asked him (because he was in our Tesla), “Do you need the charger? Be honest.” and he honestly answered no, so not as great as it could have been, but still fine.
It was a truly fantastic day. Stacking LLs worked out for our evening plans, since we used the ILLs and could choose the times. That took a huge pressure off my Wednesday plans, which I was relieved for. I had really been stressing out about having to leave headliners out. It was a strategy that worked out really great for us, and it wasn’t hard to get the times, other than RotR.
I am planning on doing an AK/DHS day during my solo trip next month and your experience stacking at DHS makes me feel more confident w/ that decision!
At this point (and anything can change in two months) I plan on ILL for FOP and ROTR, then stacking LLs all morning from AK for when I hop over to DHS.
I won’t be wrangling anyone else, but am still grateful for you sharing your experiences! 
Tower of Terror is my favorite ride, too! I would go over and over and over again if I could 
Wednesday: plan was morning at HS, afternoon break, MK evening with trying to take advantage of deluxe evening hours if possible.
We got off to a good start, with my DH snagging SDD LL for 0955-1055. We were both smashing the button, and he got the soonest, so I had him confirm, then I backed out. I decided not to repeat any ILLs - I was worried about overscheduling us when we had so many other rides we still wanted to do. I had given everyone a goal to get out of the room at 0730, so when it was closer to 0745, I figured we were probably doing alright. We got on the HS bus at Contemporary ~0755 or so. We got there in time to still get in the Early Entry tapstiles and were crossing the main plaza headed to Toy Story Land at 0830 when they made an announcement we couldn’t really hear, but I assume was about rides starting? SDD was of course already a 50min wait. We parked our strollers and walked onto TSMM (another hit all around), and then walked onto Alien Saucers (DD1 might have been able to make the cut, but we couldn’t get her to stand up straight, so my mom sat out with her, since she hates spinning rides anyway).
Wait times were starting to creep up now, but Smuggler’s Run was officially reporting 20min when we got off Aliens, so we booked it back to strollers and headed to Galaxy’s Edge. I got a little thrown off by navigating the ramps vs. stairs with the strollers, but we made it to MFSR and went ahead and got photos with the photographer in front of the Falcon. By the time me, DH, my dad, my brother, and DD5 got in line, MFSR was posted 35min, but we decided to go for it. The line moved almost continuously, and there was plenty for DD to look at and ask lots of questions about as we walked. My niece didn’t want to go, so my mom and SIL took them all to get breakfast at Ronto Roasters, which they loved. MFSR was great; DD5 and my dad were pilots, DH and my brother were gunners, and I and a guy from the single rider line were engineers. We had some spectacular crashes, but had a blast. I also submitted my first actual wait time in Lines! 31 minutes till we boarded the ship, but only 21 minutes to reach Hondo, so not bad.
We grabbed a couple more egg and sausage wraps for us to devour while we walked back over to TSL. We all got them without the peppercorn sauce because we’re boring eaters and loved them. DD1 ate the entire sausage out of one by herself. Then it was Slinky Dog time! We decided to officially measure my nephew, and he made the cut! So DD1 obliged by throwing a fit as we walked up to the entrance, and we got RS for DH and DD5. Everyone loved the coaster. I agree with what everyone says, it was super smooth and just fun. When we got off, and DD5 happily ran to go back again with DH, I pulled out my phone and booked ILLs for 7DMT for 1755, happy to know she’d be ready.
My brother distracted his kids from DD5 getting to ride again by hustling them off for popcorn bucket refills, so then we met them back up in the center plaza (does it have an official name??). We all ate popcorn and watched Santa drive past, then ran into the Frozen Sing-a-long for the 1130 show. It was a big hit and a great break off our feet. We ended up in the second row off to one side, and I was worried it would be too loud for DD1, but she clapped and laughed and sang along (“Go! Go!”). That gift shop resulted in a new Elsa Barbie for us and an Anna for my niece, which they wanted to open immediately, so we adults conferred and decided to ditch Muppets (
) and Lightning McQueen and go take a good break. So we trekked it back to the buses, ate lunch in the room, and took naps.
Off to bed tonight, but I will get back to updates when we get on the road tomorrow. I’m the meantime, my brother and I both took @NoBellePrizeWinner ‘s advice for an evening beverage.
It is delicious!
Yummmmmm!
