Tips for last minute trip for next week aka the busiest time of year?

Walt Disney World
#1

So, as an offsite guest with park reservations on 12/31 and 1/1, I am pretty much screwed, aren’t I? I purchased Genie+ already but still need to get tickets and Genie+ for my in-laws. Ugh. Our initial holiday plans were scrapped thanks to Canada’s travel restrictions so we figured we would head to Disney since we still have 2 day tickets that we haven’t been able to use since COVID started.

Any tips? We are a family of 5 with a 10, 6, and 3yo who are used to the old FP system. We toured only using FP and usually able to ride many rides in one day. It sounds like the new system is impossible to get our family unit onto a ride without waiting forever as soon as we step into the park. I guess I can always just wait until the first LL in the afternoon.

#2

I would not delay. Some parks are already sold out for those days. Only AK remains available for 12/31, and only AK and EP on 1/1

#3

Thank you! Getting them tickets now. Yesterday, I somehow found some Disney magic since I was able to get five park reservations for MK on the 12/31 and AK for 1/1. Not sure if I can get my ILs in for MK on the 12/31 at this point. Gah.

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#4

Coming back to report something random. I finally got my ILs’ park tickets set up and the park reservation system was showing availability only for Epcot on 12/31. I went to a different screen to select the park and it allowed me to select Magic Kingdom for that same day anyway. I looked back into my profile and my ILs now have the same park reservations as us. If systems are glitching this badly now, I don’t even want to know what will happen next week when we hit the 10/10 CL days.

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#5

Same thing happened to me. I thought I wasn’t going anywhere aside from Epcot as it was the only one showing availability, but in the booking screen I ended up finding 3/4 parks.

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#6

I am getting a little hopeful! Would you add an extra day at the parks knowing this, or would you book a room at Pop to try and get early entry for 12/31 and 1/1?

#7

What is your ILL$$$ plans? If you weren’t already planning on getting two ILL$$$ each day, doing so should be cheaper than a Pop room. Think of this. You can either battle the elbowing, running hordes with your IL’s during early entry. Or, you can use the Pop room money to pay for ILL$$$ that you can schedule.

#8

We already have Genie+ added to our tickets. We decided to add 2 park days instead of needing to pay 2 rooms at Pop for early entry (we are a family of 5) or one room at CBR/CSR. I’m trying to manage everyone’s expectations re high crowds, difficulty using Genie+ compared to FPP, etc.

As last minute as this trip is, I am just happy we have something planned. We were supposed to go to Canada for hockey and skiing and that got canceled last Friday, so I’m trying to throw together as much stuff as I can since Monday.

#9

How old are your players? I have a Bantam minor this year - first year of hitting, yikes!

#10

ILL$$$ is different than G+. You pay per person per ride for those, and the top ride at each park will be an option. Although, considering the crowds, you might never get a chance to buy one.

#11

10 and 6. The 10yo’s team had a tourney in Ottawa but they canceled as restrictions were getting rolled out. We were/are so bummed.

How is your Bantam doing? Hopefully nothing canceled right now. Our US games/tourneys never had/have any issues. The 10U’s team missed one weekend b/c of COVID that the team got from a tourney in Chicago. It took them out for games the weekend after and messed up our whole Thanksgiving schedule. Just grateful they are playing and everyone doing well.

#12

So far we are okay here in NH. We play in MA quite a bit though and some areas are now beginning to require proof of vaccination so I wonder if that league will be impacted by these regulations (we are all fully vaxxed, so it won’t hurt us personally, but I wonder about the league at large).

There is a tournament scheduled for early January when I am away at Marathon Weekend. It’s up in northern NH though so I think that will probably still go off?

We have had a few games and practices cancelled here and there based on Covid infections on our team or opposition.

#13

Yes, saw that ILL for parks are sold out even before most people log on. I’ll definitely try to get two each day and will train my 10yo to help me lol. I am going to keep super low expectations with everyone.

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#14

Fingers crossed you guys will continue to be fine the rest of the season! We live in GA, so we have to go FAR to play hockey even at the squirt level. The last tournament for my 10U’s season is in Boston during President’s Day weekend. I am really hoping that doesn’t get canceled, but we shall see. I feel bad for friends who are Peewee Quebec bound. Quebec is much more strict and that looks to be up in the air based on rumors.

Everyone in my house except for the 3yo is now either fully vaxxed and boosted or just had COVID and antibodies are still high. I feel much more comfortable going to Disney now than I did a year ago even though I am sure crowds were much thinner in 2020.

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#15

Today was our first day in the parks and got lots of luck! CL10 at AK and we got there maybe 20 minutes after park opened for offsite guests (my fault for misremembering the time). We’ve been to AK at CL10 Pre Covid and it didn’t feel as crowded to me today. Others may disagree but everything was super manageable despite my super low expectations.

At park open, I booked a safari LL for 10:15am We did SB for Dinosaur as soon as we arrived at the park (8:40am or so) and it was a walk on. My 3yo went with DH and FIL to Triceratop Spin after, which was also a walk on. Meanwhile, MIL and I took my 10yo and 6yo to Everest on SB. The posted wait time was 30mins and it only took 15. After the first ride on EE, I was able to snag a 9:03am ILL$ for FoP at 11:15am! My 10yo begged hubby to go on EE with us so back we went on SB. The posted wait time was 40 minutes and it still only took 15.

Once we finished on EE, we headed to the safari ride. Booked a Nav’i at 10am with a return time for 2:55am. Walked to FoP and was able to get a last minute reservation to Tusker House for 12:35pm. At noon while in line for FoP, I booked Kali River Rapids for a return time of 2:05pm. We had to do a RS for FoP and by the time we finished, we were slightly late for our ressie. Checked in at Tusker House at 12:41pm and was seated pretty quickly.

After lunch, DH had to head back to resort to do some work and FIL wanted to nap and went with him lol. Rode Kali River Rapids and got soaked. Headed back to Pandora to ride Nav’i and our crew was done. We could have watched a bunch of shows but no one wanted to stick around any longer. We left by 5pm and two of three kids have napped since we got in the car :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:.

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#16

We had another awesome day today! Another CL10 and we did HS with an afternoon break (staying offsite). Booked MFSR at 7:15am, so day already started off well. We were walking into the park by 8:40am as offsite crowd was slow to be admitted inside. We did ToT standby, which was only 15 mins with a posted time of 30. By the time we finished the ride, posted time jumped a lot.

We went to the Lighting McQueen showcase and DH had to take a conference call :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:. We stood in line for popcorn and pretzels in front of the theater and was able to book Star Tours with a return time right after MFSR. Took everyone to watch Disney Junior show since we had some time. Headed over to Galaxy’s Edge and fell in love. We’ve never been since it opened two years ago and my DS10 was especially excited. Loved MFSR! The boys tried the milk bar. I was eyeing ROTR all morning since it went down pretty early in the day. Sadly, it went back up while we were in MFSR and the posted wait was already 90 minutes by the time we walked by. I bet it was only a 20 min wait tops, but we had to run to Star Tours then a ressie at H&V for 1pm.

During my next booking window, I booked the ASS for 4:40pm return. We left the park at 3pm for a break and so DH could work from the resort. During my next booking window, I booked RNRC since it was down all day and remembered the loophole posted by a Liner that it converts to an anytime LL. That LL converted quickly and I was able to book another RNRC, which again converted into another any time pass right away. Both were done during our break at the resort, which was amazing luck.

We headed back to HS and tapped into ASS ten minutes after our window ended. The kids wanted to ride MFSR again, so we used one of the any time passes. It worked even though we used a LL earlier in the day for that ride. I was able to book another RNRC that again converted into an any time pass after MFSR. Kids wanted to ride ToT again, so off we went to the other side of the park. After that, DH was hangry and wanted to leave. I was sad we didn’t get to use that third any time pass, but all good. I’ll be very prepared for our two MK days on Friday and Saturday!

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