Our first trip to WDW was in 2019 and we rocked the FP game. All the G+ stuff gives me a headache but I’m wading through it. I feel more anxiety about making this trip worth it, so I’m trying to reset our (MY) expectations for how to make this an amazing trip. We have 3 day non-hopper tickets and we’re taking 3 grandparents and our DS almost6 and DS almost3.
Here’s my must-do list. I’m trying to keep it short and easily attainable.
Castle family photo
Dole whip
At least 1 fireworks show (planning for one each night)
We RD PPF, Remy, and RotR with EE
We get to walk on a few rides
We get to immediately re-ride something at least once (best chance is Nemo/Figment afternoon or evening)
Celebrate the boys’ birthdays with birthday buttons and shirts and with a cake one afternoon
Any other tips for some easy wins? We’re going Nov. 8-10 so it will be food and wine still. Christmas decor will be starting to go up. And 50th celebration stuff will be there. Anything specific from those 3 categories we should definitely do/see/take a photo with?
It is POSSIBLE your days will align with a MK Christmas Party or After Hours event (depending on which Disney does this year). So if that interests you, be on the watch for when dates are announced. The earliest days, last year, had the cheapest prices.
Where are you staying? If you use the International Gateway rope dropping Remy is fairly easy. And we were able to immediately reride Alien Swirling Saucers around 8pm, and Star Tours was a walkon from about 7pm on both our evenings in HS.
@ryan1 Yes, we are waiting to see on that. Right now TP is estimating M T TH and F to all be party nights that week which seems unlikely to me? DH and I would potentially be interested in attending that and letting everyone else have an early night.
@erinkippen We are staying at Fort Wilderness and planning to drive to each park because we like to be in control. Hopefully that won’t ruin our chances for Remy. I’ll keep an eye on AS2 times, but I’m hoping there will be an evening show in HS by then. But we’ll see.
We did Genie+ for the first time today at MK. I was worried it would hinder the experience but found it to actually be great. We did 8 rides today from 9am - 1:30pm and didn’t wait in a line, used G+ all through the park without a problem.
Don’t fret, it’s a good system at MK at least. Going to try Epcot tomorrow…
That’s awesome! Did you use G+ for any of the top tier rides? The idea of booking JC at 7 am and getting a late afternoon return time really messes up the flow of tapping and riding.
We just got back from WDW yesterday. Here is my $.02 on G+/Park Hopper. I came away from that trip with the conclusion if we ever do it again, I’d forget PH and pay the bucks for G+/LL. We had PH for MK & E, but not G+. All parks were more crowded than what I was expecting, and way above my comfort level. Nonetheless, most common rides (Nemo, Figment, TTwC, SmWorld, PMover, C of Prog, etc., had 10- 30 minute wait times, if that. But the popular rides, like JCru, Frozen, RRA had wait times of 1 - 2 hours. We didn’t go to AK or HS.
Times change. Given Disney’s pricing strategy now and the public’s high demand, I wonder now if the G+ stuff is a better value than park hopper. If you go at Christmas, the one items I’d add to your list is Epcot’s Candlelight Processional if it is offered this year. It is totally worth it.
I have been twice since G+. Absolutely cannot stand it. Would feel differently if it were free. I found creating a touring plan worked way better.
Your plans are reasonable. I suggest a TP with G+ maximize the experience. You could easily re-ride 7DMT during fireworks.
I think just reading up as much as you can on G+ will help, though honestly even as much as I read, I still found it nearly impossible to fully wring all the value out of. Just be prepared for it to not work even 5% as well as FP+, and practice your zen breathing.
RDing will help a lot for sure. And if you can stack LLs for the evening, that is kind of nice, though it means you have to keep remembering to check your phone every two hours.
Focus on the stuff you want to do and try not to stress!
Thanks for sharing your perspective! We haven’t done hoppers yet but I can see how G+ would be more important.
Unfortunately, we’ll miss Epcot holiday festival stuff by a few weeks. MK will definitely be decorated and Christmas party starting but I’m not even sure the hotel decor will be up yet.
Hahaha. The more I read, the more I wish for FP.
I think we’ll be at MK on a party day so that makes stacking for the evening a little trickier, because we run out of time at 5 but hopefully it will work out OK.
Hopefully that won’t ruin our chances for Remy. I’ll keep an eye on AS2 times, but I’m hoping there will be an evening show in HS by then. But we’ll see.