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Anya
Nov 3, 2004
"If you have information worth hearing, then I am grateful for it. If you're gonna crack jokes, then I'm gonna pull out your ribcage and wear it as a hat."
I figure that 30 min of that 7+ hours was basically me doing photos - walking slow while eating or drinking - bathroom breaks.

Like yes - you should probably put more effort into training if you want a fast time. But I’ve scanned the times of the finishers - and there’s a lot of us who did similar times.

It still was a physical demand, I was in pain for about half of it due to some ankle and mid foot issues, and the blisters from the rain weren’t amazing. The mental aspect is a lot harder than the physical though - your brain can mess with you towards the end as you get tired, I’m so happy for my friends who chased me - kept texting me through the race, and for my husband and sister, who did the same from back home. They were the true push.

Ate at Tony’s and threw down on everything carbs around 3pm the day before. Solid recommendation for a race carb load - was it amazing? No, but I needed a pound of shrimp fettuccine Alfredo and they delivered.

Counting down to start training for Dopey - I truly want to do that next. More focus required, but knowing you can make each race enjoyable was the best.

Plus, if you keep waking up at 2-3am, it’s easy to go to bed at 730pm nightly.

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Grundulum
Feb 28, 2006

Anya posted:

Counting down to start training for Dopey - I truly want to do that next. More focus required, but knowing you can make each race enjoyable was the best.

I’m meeting up with a friend later this month to give them a chance to dissuade me from doing this in 2026. Problem is that they’ve previously done the Goofy, so I think we’re more likely to talk each other into the insanity than out of it.

It sounds like getting into the Dopey is easier than getting ComicCon or Taylor Swift tickets, so that’s one less barrier to me making poor decisions!

Anya
Nov 3, 2004
"If you have information worth hearing, then I am grateful for it. If you're gonna crack jokes, then I'm gonna pull out your ribcage and wear it as a hat."
Took me 6 hours to get Eras Tour tix for Pittsburgh last summer - only 30 min for the marathon!
Surprisingly, they both cost just about the same.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

Grundulum posted:

I’m meeting up with a friend later this month to give them a chance to dissuade me from doing this in 2026. Problem is that they’ve previously done the Goofy, so I think we’re more likely to talk each other into the insanity than out of it.

It sounds like getting into the Dopey is easier than getting ComicCon or Taylor Swift tickets, so that’s one less barrier to me making poor decisions!

The Dopey is pretty easy to get into, from my understanding. It's the 5k that's a bitch to get into.

Which is what my personal goal is for me and the SD next year if my trashy body takes to this new thing I'm trying.

smackfu
Jun 7, 2004

I like how the prices of the half and the full marathon are basically the same ($215 or so), and each only about double the price of the 5K ($103). That’s called pricing to demand.

Doing the half plus full doesn’t save you any money but you get an extra medal. And the doing all of them doesn’t really save you any money but you get two extra medals for a total of six.

DC Murderverse
Nov 10, 2016

"Tell that to Zod's snapped neck!"

Need a Disney-sponsored ultramarathon that is just running around the Epcot parking lot for 8 hours a day for every day of Food and Wine

Omne
Jul 12, 2003

Orangedude Forever

Hardest part of Dopey isn't the 48.6 miles. It's waking up at 2-2:30AM for four straight days. And trying to avoid being on your feet too much after each race.

Bottom Liner
Feb 15, 2006


a specific vein of lasagna
Walking after each of them is really good for recovery, to get the lactic acid out of your legs (as long as you mind blisters) especially between the half and full. Riding Test Track on repeat when you have long legs that barely fit though, big mistake.

Omne
Jul 12, 2003

Orangedude Forever

Walking to recover, yes. Hitting up the parks like one normally would, no.

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014
In a few days I'll be arriving in Orlando for my first trip to Disney World in almost 20 years. My family visited the parks about 5 times between about 1995 and 2005, but of course a lot has changed now. I've always been a big planner and organizer, and Genie+ has me feeling anxious. As I understand it, the way to maximize Genie+ is to book a new LL as soon as I've redeemed one, but I feel like I can't make a proper plan for the day because I have no idea what kind of return times Genie+ will assign me. For example, here's what I would LIKE my schedule to look like on the first day, Sunday Jan 21st, at Hollywood Studios:

7:00 - Get a Lightning Lane for Smuggler's Run.
Arrive for Early Entry and rope drop Rise of the Resistance.
Redeem LL for Smuggler's Run. Get a LL for Slinky Dog Dash.
Go to Toy Story Land and ride Slinky. Get a LL for Runaway Railway.
Ride Toy Story Mania & Alien Saucers.
Ride Runaway Railway. Get a LL for Star Tours.
Fill in time before or after Star Tours with Muppets, Indiana Jones, & the Frozen show.
After Star Tours, get a LL for Tower of Terror
Ride Tower of Terror
Fill in time before or after TOT with Beauty & The Beast show
8:30 PM - Wonderful World of Animation
9:30 PM - Fantasmic

But I know that this only works if the return time for each LL is fairly short. Like, if I redeem my first LL for Smuggler's Run at 9:00, but when I try to book a LL for Slinky I'm offered a return time of 4:00, that throws off my whole schedule. I'll be with a group of people who don't want to spend a long time standing in line and also don't want to crisscross back and forth across the park, so not having an idea of LL return times creates chaos and uncertainty. I feel paying $20 (or more) person for G+ could be worth it if it works the way I WANT it too, but I'm just not willing to pay for ILL on top of that, considering there will be 7 people in my group.

Aphrodite
Jun 27, 2006

You can reserve again upon tagging in (if you have no additional outstanding ones), or 2 hours after your most recent reservation. So in that situation if you do get a late Slinky, you'd still get another LL pick at 11am.

You also pretty much never have to LL Star Tours, but may need to for Toy Story Mania.

In general though, yeah unless you do the late stacking trick that's unfortunately how Genie+ goes. It's low(er) season so you may get lucky.

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014

Aphrodite posted:

You can reserve again upon tagging in (if you have no additional outstanding ones), or 2 hours after your most recent reservation. So in that situation if you do get a late Slinky, you'd still get another LL pick at 11am.

Oh I see, I didn't quite understand that, thanks!

Jose Oquendo
Jun 20, 2004

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie

crabkettle posted:

In a few days I'll be arriving in Orlando for my first trip to Disney World in almost 20 years. My family visited the parks about 5 times between about 1995 and 2005, but of course a lot has changed now. I've always been a big planner and organizer, and Genie+ has me feeling anxious. As I understand it, the way to maximize Genie+ is to book a new LL as soon as I've redeemed one, but I feel like I can't make a proper plan for the day because I have no idea what kind of return times Genie+ will assign me. For example, here's what I would LIKE my schedule to look like on the first day, Sunday Jan 21st, at Hollywood Studios:

7:00 - Get a Lightning Lane for Smuggler's Run.
Arrive for Early Entry and rope drop Rise of the Resistance.
Redeem LL for Smuggler's Run. Get a LL for Slinky Dog Dash.
Go to Toy Story Land and ride Slinky. Get a LL for Runaway Railway.
Ride Toy Story Mania & Alien Saucers.
Ride Runaway Railway. Get a LL for Star Tours.
Fill in time before or after Star Tours with Muppets, Indiana Jones, & the Frozen show.
After Star Tours, get a LL for Tower of Terror
Ride Tower of Terror
Fill in time before or after TOT with Beauty & The Beast show
8:30 PM - Wonderful World of Animation
9:30 PM - Fantasmic

But I know that this only works if the return time for each LL is fairly short. Like, if I redeem my first LL for Smuggler's Run at 9:00, but when I try to book a LL for Slinky I'm offered a return time of 4:00, that throws off my whole schedule. I'll be with a group of people who don't want to spend a long time standing in line and also don't want to crisscross back and forth across the park, so not having an idea of LL return times creates chaos and uncertainty. I feel paying $20 (or more) person for G+ could be worth it if it works the way I WANT it too, but I'm just not willing to pay for ILL on top of that, considering there will be 7 people in my group.

The LL slots for Slinky will most likely fill up near immediately. If you wait for one after you do Smuggler's Run, you will not get it. You should LL Slinky first and then sorta build the first part of your day around that return time. Like, if your return time is earlier in the day, rope drop ROR, go on Smuggler's Run (if it's that early in the day the line won't be that bad) Toy Story Mania, etc until your return time. As noted, you can do another LL reservation 2 hours after the current one, or after you tap in for that, so you may be able to make another reservation for say Twilight Zone or MMRR before even going on Slinky.

As mentioned, don't bother with LL for Star Tours. That ride almost always has wait times under 30 minutes. Toy Story Mania can have long lines and the LL slots can fill up on that too.

Having a rigid plan never works. Rides will go down, rides can get long wait times for different reasons, etc. Also it kinds sucks to have to zig zag around the park for stuff with 7 people. You have to plan your day around things like Individual Lightning Lanes or the LL reservations for rides that fill up like Slinky, and dining reservations if you do any.


edit: If your party has never been to Galaxy's Edge before and they're fans of Star Wars, you all can easily spend half a day in that section once you factor in the rides, shops, pics, etc.

Jose Oquendo fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Jan 16, 2024

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014

Jose Oquendo posted:

I can tell you right now that LL slots for Slinky will most likely fill up near immediately. If you wait for one after you do Smuggler's Run, you will not get it. You should LL Slinky first and then sorta build the first part of your day around that return time. Like, if your return time is earlier in the day, rope drop ROR, go on Smuggler's Run (if it's that early in the day the line won't be that bad) Toy Story Mania, etc until your return time. As noted, you can do another LL reservation 2 hours after the current one, or after you tap in for that, so you may be able to make another reservation for say Twilight Zone or MMRR before even going on Slinky.

As mentioned, don't bother with LL for Star Tours. That ride almost always has wait times under 30 minutes. Toy Story Mania can have long lines and the LL slots can fill up on that too.

Having a rigid plan never works. Rides will go down, rides can get long wait times for different reasons, etc. Also it kinds sucks to have to zig zag around the park for stuff with 7 people. You have to plan your day around things like Individual Lightning Lanes or then LL reservations for rides that fill up like Slinky, and dining reservations if you do any.

OK this is good to know, so I'll make my first LL for Slinky. I do try to be flexible with the daily plan, and luckily we're not going to do any table-service meals so reservations aren't an issue.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

crabkettle posted:

In a few days I'll be arriving in Orlando for my first trip to Disney World in almost 20 years. My family visited the parks about 5 times between about 1995 and 2005, but of course a lot has changed now. I've always been a big planner and organizer, and Genie+ has me feeling anxious. As I understand it, the way to maximize Genie+ is to book a new LL as soon as I've redeemed one, but I feel like I can't make a proper plan for the day because I have no idea what kind of return times Genie+ will assign me. For example, here's what I would LIKE my schedule to look like on the first day, Sunday Jan 21st, at Hollywood Studios:

7:00 - Get a Lightning Lane for Smuggler's Run.
Arrive for Early Entry and rope drop Rise of the Resistance.
Redeem LL for Smuggler's Run. Get a LL for Slinky Dog Dash.
Go to Toy Story Land and ride Slinky. Get a LL for Runaway Railway.
Ride Toy Story Mania & Alien Saucers.
Ride Runaway Railway. Get a LL for Star Tours.
Fill in time before or after Star Tours with Muppets, Indiana Jones, & the Frozen show.
After Star Tours, get a LL for Tower of Terror
Ride Tower of Terror
Fill in time before or after TOT with Beauty & The Beast show
8:30 PM - Wonderful World of Animation
9:30 PM - Fantasmic

But I know that this only works if the return time for each LL is fairly short. Like, if I redeem my first LL for Smuggler's Run at 9:00, but when I try to book a LL for Slinky I'm offered a return time of 4:00, that throws off my whole schedule. I'll be with a group of people who don't want to spend a long time standing in line and also don't want to crisscross back and forth across the park, so not having an idea of LL return times creates chaos and uncertainty. I feel paying $20 (or more) person for G+ could be worth it if it works the way I WANT it too, but I'm just not willing to pay for ILL on top of that, considering there will be 7 people in my group.

you are almost definitely not going to run from wonderful world of animation all the way over to fantasmic and manage to get a seat. I'd pick fantasmic over WWOA; do you have park hoppers?

Jose Oquendo
Jun 20, 2004

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie

crabkettle posted:

OK this is good to know, so I'll make my first LL for Slinky. I do try to be flexible with the daily plan, and luckily we're not going to do any table-service meals so reservations aren't an issue.

A couple other things to remember:

You have an hour window on those LL return times. You don't have to get there right away. You can do another ride, grab a bite, do some shopping.

Keep an eye on the return times to determine what you should book next. For example, let's say it's 11am and the return times for Twilight Zone are around 1pm. That's not bad. The ride isn't in much demand as far as LL goes. You could probably book a time later if you wanted. On the other hand, if it's 11am and TOT has return times for 3 or 4 pm, that means it's filling up fast and you should most likely book the next available slot to make sure you get one.


And yeah you probably have to pick between those two shows. It's a long walk over to the actual seating for Fantasmic and that poo poo fills up quick. I agree with doing Fantasmic.

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014
Here's my tentative itinerary for Epcot. This is my favorite park so I've actually planned 2 days for it, 1 for World Showcase and 1 for what used to be called Future World (does it have a name now?). So on Mon Jan 22 the plan for Epcot day 1 is:

7:00 get a VBG for Guardians of the Galaxy & a LL for Test Track.
I'm assuming we won't be called for GOTG for a while, so we'll rope drop Spaceship Earth w/Early Entry then do Journey into Imagination.
Ride Test track and get a new LL for Soarin'.
Ride Mission Space (maybe - not sure if the group wants to do this ride).
Ride Soarin'. Fill in time before or after the LL with Living With The Land and Awesome Planet.
After tapping into Soaring, book a LL for The Seas With Nemo.
Walk through Journey of Water.
Ride The Seas, then do Turtle Talk and Sea Base.
At some point we'll be called for our VBG for GOTG so we will have to do a bit of criss-crossing to get back to that area.
We should end up with quite a bit of extra time at the end of the day, so we'll probably hop to another park for a few hours. Also possibly planning on heading over to World Showcase at 9:00 to see Luminous, or possibly ride Frozen during the fireworks.

Tues Jan 23, Epcot day 2:

Since there are so few rides in World Showcase I'm considering not doing Genie+ this day at all.
7:00 book a VBG for Guardians? Yes it would mean making a big trek to the other side of the park, but people seem to love it so much I'm thinking we might want to do it again?
Rope drop Remy w/Early Entry
Apparently there is a boat that traverses the lagoon but we've never ridden on it, so maybe take the boat across then hurry to Norway for Frozen?
We've always traveled World Showcase counter-clockwise so after Norway we could go on to Mexico and continue counter-clockwise.
Festival of the Arts will be going on and I know there will be Broadway performances in the late afternoon/evening at America Gardens Theatre so we'll try to catch at least one of those.
Again we'll probably be finished early-ish so we may park hop in the evening.
Another option would be, if we do see Luminous on Epcot day 1, we could ride Frozen during the fireworks on Epcot day 2

How does that sound?

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

you are almost definitely not going to run from wonderful world of animation all the way over to fantasmic and manage to get a seat. I'd pick fantasmic over WWOA; do you have park hoppers?

Now that you say that, I realize I should have planned more time to get to Fantasmic early in time to get seated. I would def. prefer Fantasmic if I only have time to see one. I do have park hoppers and since I'm splitting Epcot across 2 days, I could potentially come back one evening to see WWOA.

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014

Jose Oquendo posted:

A couple other things to remember:

You have an hour window on those LL return times. You don't have to get there right away. You can do another ride, grab a bite, do some shopping.

Keep an eye on the return times to determine what you should book next. For example, let's say it's 11am and the return times for Twilight Zone are around 1pm. That's not bad. The ride isn't in much demand as far as LL goes. You could probably book a time later if you wanted. On the other hand, if it's 11am and TOT has return times for 3 or 4 pm, that means it's filling up fast and you should most likely book the next available slot to make sure you get one.


And yeah you probably have to pick between those two shows. It's a long walk over to the actual seating for Fantasmic and that poo poo fills up quick. I agree with doing Fantasmic.

Oh this is really helpful info. Do you know if there's a resource where I can see which rides have a high demand for LLs?

Jose Oquendo
Jun 20, 2004

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie
For Epcot, you do what's best for your party, but Spaceship Earth isn't worth burning your early entry. Use that for Frozen if you're going to rope drop Remy on day 2. Or you could LL that and rope drop Test Track.


crabkettle posted:

Oh this is really helpful info. Do you know if there's a resource where I can see which rides have a high demand for LLs?

There are sites that have historical data, but that doesn't mean it will play out the same that day. If a ride is down for a long time, that will impact wait times or LL slots for other rides. You really just gotta play it by ear and keep an eye on things.

edit: Cosmic Rewind is legit and you should definitely ride it as many times as possible.

Jose Oquendo fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Jan 16, 2024

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014

Jose Oquendo posted:

For Epcot, you do what's best for your party, but Spaceship Earth isn't worth burning your early entry. Use that for Frozen if you're going to rope drop Remy on day 2. Or you could LL that and rope drop Test Track.

Really? I figured since it's the iconic "big golf ball", front & center at the park, that tons of people would go there first and lines would get long. So it may be best to get my first LL for Test Track, then rope drop Frozen. To do that I'm guessing that I should enter the park via the International Gateway and walk to Norway. Then go to Test Track and from there continue my original plan.

Nanigans
Aug 31, 2005

~Waku Waku~
Spaceship Earth routinely has sub 5 minute wait times.

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014

Nanigans posted:

Spaceship Earth routinely has sub 5 minute wait times.

Huh! Wouldn't have thought that, but I will amend my plans!

OK, next up is my plan for Magic Kingdom. This park has the most rides so I know I'll have to be more flexible but here is my tentative itinerary:

7:00 - Grab VBG for Tron and LL for Peter Pan
Rope drop Seven Dwarfs Mine Train w/Early Entry
Ride Peter Pan. Get next LL for Space Mountain.
Finish as many of the other rides in Fantasyland as possible while waiting for Space Mountain LL
Probably start w/ the Carousel & Small World, then Pooh & the Tea Party, then onto Dumbo, Enchanted Tales, Little Mermaid, & Barnstormer
When the LL is ready ride Space Mountain. Get next LL for Buzz Lightyear
Do Monster's Inc
Ride Buzz, then book a LL for Haunted Mansion
Might go to Astro Orbiter If not too busy, otherwise we might stop by in the evening on the way out
Finish Tomorrowland with Carousel of Progress & People Mover
If we still have time to kill before Haunted Mansion, we can finish anything we may have missed in Fantasyland
Ride Haunted Mansion. Get next LL for Big Thunder Mountain.
Ride BTM. Book next LL for Jungle Cruise
Finish Adventurelend with Pirates, Aladdin & Swiss Family Treehouse. Possibly get a LL for Pirates?
8:00 - Fireworks

Jose Oquendo
Jun 20, 2004

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie
Good luck. MK is pretty much a 2 day park especially if you’re hitting up the kiddie area (nothing wrong with that) that’s a lotta rides for one day. Again you’re assuming you can get LL reservations in the time frame you want.

I honestly don’t see you doing all that in one day.

Jose Oquendo fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Jan 16, 2024

Arquinsiel
Jun 1, 2006

"There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first."

God Bless Margaret Thatcher
God Bless England
RIP My Iron Lady

crabkettle posted:


Since there are so few rides in World Showcase I'm considering not doing Genie+ this day at all.
I'm not 100% certain on this and someone please correct me, but I think once you've bought Genie+ you've bought it for your full ticket and have to pay for every remaining day.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

crabkettle posted:

Here's my tentative itinerary for Epcot. This is my favorite park so I've actually planned 2 days for it, 1 for World Showcase and 1 for what used to be called Future World (does it have a name now?). So on Mon Jan 22 the plan for Epcot day 1 is:

7:00 get a VBG for Guardians of the Galaxy & a LL for Test Track.
I'm assuming we won't be called for GOTG for a while, so we'll rope drop Spaceship Earth w/Early Entry then do Journey into Imagination.
Ride Test track and get a new LL for Soarin'.
Ride Mission Space (maybe - not sure if the group wants to do this ride).
Ride Soarin'. Fill in time before or after the LL with Living With The Land and Awesome Planet.
After tapping into Soaring, book a LL for The Seas With Nemo.
Walk through Journey of Water.
Ride The Seas, then do Turtle Talk and Sea Base.
At some point we'll be called for our VBG for GOTG so we will have to do a bit of criss-crossing to get back to that area.
We should end up with quite a bit of extra time at the end of the day, so we'll probably hop to another park for a few hours. Also possibly planning on heading over to World Showcase at 9:00 to see Luminous, or possibly ride Frozen during the fireworks.

Tues Jan 23, Epcot day 2:

Since there are so few rides in World Showcase I'm considering not doing Genie+ this day at all.
7:00 book a VBG for Guardians? Yes it would mean making a big trek to the other side of the park, but people seem to love it so much I'm thinking we might want to do it again?
Rope drop Remy w/Early Entry
Apparently there is a boat that traverses the lagoon but we've never ridden on it, so maybe take the boat across then hurry to Norway for Frozen?
We've always traveled World Showcase counter-clockwise so after Norway we could go on to Mexico and continue counter-clockwise.
Festival of the Arts will be going on and I know there will be Broadway performances in the late afternoon/evening at America Gardens Theatre so we'll try to catch at least one of those.
Again we'll probably be finished early-ish so we may park hop in the evening.
Another option would be, if we do see Luminous on Epcot day 1, we could ride Frozen during the fireworks on Epcot day 2

How does that sound?

Oh good, Epcot.

Monday: you're jumping all over the place early in the morning, man. you're gonna be a wreck by the time you get to Turtle Talk unless you guys have a lot of stamina. Like you're literally zigzagging across old future world (whatever it's called now) all morning.

Tuesday: Rope drop for Remy is a good idea. The Friendship Boats are what you're talking about, but they won't be up that early most of the time. This would honestly be an amazing day to go see WWOA if you're still interested in that over at Hollywood Studios.

ETA:

crabkettle posted:

Huh! Wouldn't have thought that, but I will amend my plans!

OK, next up is my plan for Magic Kingdom. This park has the most rides so I know I'll have to be more flexible but here is my tentative itinerary:

7:00 - Grab VBG for Tron and LL for Peter Pan
Rope drop Seven Dwarfs Mine Train w/Early Entry
Ride Peter Pan. Get next LL for Space Mountain.
Finish as many of the other rides in Fantasyland as possible while waiting for Space Mountain LL
Probably start w/ the Carousel & Small World, then Pooh & the Tea Party, then onto Dumbo, Enchanted Tales, Little Mermaid, & Barnstormer
When the LL is ready ride Space Mountain. Get next LL for Buzz Lightyear
Do Monster's Inc
Ride Buzz, then book a LL for Haunted Mansion
Might go to Astro Orbiter If not too busy, otherwise we might stop by in the evening on the way out
Finish Tomorrowland with Carousel of Progress & People Mover
If we still have time to kill before Haunted Mansion, we can finish anything we may have missed in Fantasyland
Ride Haunted Mansion. Get next LL for Big Thunder Mountain.
Ride BTM. Book next LL for Jungle Cruise
Finish Adventurelend with Pirates, Aladdin & Swiss Family Treehouse. Possibly get a LL for Pirates?
8:00 - Fireworks

This just isn't gonna happen, man. Especially not if this is after those other days you have planned.

Akileese
Feb 6, 2005

crabkettle posted:

Really? I figured since it's the iconic "big golf ball", front & center at the park, that tons of people would go there first and lines would get long. So it may be best to get my first LL for Test Track, then rope drop Frozen. To do that I'm guessing that I should enter the park via the International Gateway and walk to Norway. Then go to Test Track and from there continue my original plan.

The first three that fill in this order are > rat ride > frozen > test track. Not for nothing, I almost always do Frozen first because if you're there for early entry, it's walk on. Neither is particularly close to anything else though. Remy and Frozen are prone to break downs as well, so while you can't plan for that, it's something to keep in mind. I've found that with Cosmic Rewind, I'm usually 60-90 minutes from rope drop, but I also haven't been there since they killed reservations, so I don't know how that impacts it, so it may be worse.

Soarin is another ride that backs up, but I wouldn't use early entry on because it's a low demand LL. Also, not sure if it was 100 percent overlay related, but Living with the Land saw an uptick in waits as well, but that may just be because of increased attendance due to race weekend.

crabkettle posted:

Huh! Wouldn't have thought that, but I will amend my plans!

OK, next up is my plan for Magic Kingdom. This park has the most rides so I know I'll have to be more flexible but here is my tentative itinerary:

7:00 - Grab VBG for Tron and LL for Peter Pan
Rope drop Seven Dwarfs Mine Train w/Early Entry
Ride Peter Pan. Get next LL for Space Mountain.
Finish as many of the other rides in Fantasyland as possible while waiting for Space Mountain LL
Probably start w/ the Carousel & Small World, then Pooh & the Tea Party, then onto Dumbo, Enchanted Tales, Little Mermaid, & Barnstormer
When the LL is ready ride Space Mountain. Get next LL for Buzz Lightyear
Do Monster's Inc
Ride Buzz, then book a LL for Haunted Mansion
Might go to Astro Orbiter If not too busy, otherwise we might stop by in the evening on the way out
Finish Tomorrowland with Carousel of Progress & People Mover
If we still have time to kill before Haunted Mansion, we can finish anything we may have missed in Fantasyland
Ride Haunted Mansion. Get next LL for Big Thunder Mountain.
Ride BTM. Book next LL for Jungle Cruise
Finish Adventurelend with Pirates, Aladdin & Swiss Family Treehouse. Possibly get a LL for Pirates?
8:00 - Fireworks

I've done something that like that basically once by myself and I was absolutely torched after it. It was a first day and I did DAK the next day because I knew it was a half-day park and I could take it at my own pace. If you have a party, especially with kiddos, you're never getting that many rides in.

Akileese fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Jan 16, 2024

Anya
Nov 3, 2004
"If you have information worth hearing, then I am grateful for it. If you're gonna crack jokes, then I'm gonna pull out your ribcage and wear it as a hat."

Arquinsiel posted:

I'm not 100% certain on this and someone please correct me, but I think once you've bought Genie+ you've bought it for your full ticket and have to pay for every remaining day.

Genie+ is a daily purchase for WDW tickets. Only for Disneyland/DCA tickets can you add it at purchase for length of stay.

Jose Oquendo
Jun 20, 2004

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie
Crabkettle, you might want to see if you can change things so you do Epcot in one day and do two at MK.

If you only care about rides, Epcot is easily a 1 day park.

Dren
Jan 5, 2001

Pillbug

crabkettle posted:

Oh this is really helpful info. Do you know if there's a resource where I can see which rides have a high demand for LLs?

this is a pretty good overview https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/lightning-lane-genie-plus

They also have Genie+ Priorities at Magic Kingdom | EPCOT | Hollywood Studios | Animal Kingdom

and a step by step guide on how to use it https://touringplans.com/blog/step-by-step-guide-how-use-genie-and-lightning-lane-at-disney-world/

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

Oh good, Epcot.

Monday: you're jumping all over the place early in the morning, man. you're gonna be a wreck by the time you get to Turtle Talk unless you guys have a lot of stamina. Like you're literally zigzagging across old future world (whatever it's called now) all morning.


I see what you're saying now that I'm actually looking at a map of Epcot. Like, originally, I had Spaceship Earth and Journey Into Imagination grouped together because they're both considered part of "World Celebration", but looking at the map I see they're actually not really close to each other.

So a revised plan would hopefully allow me to do attractions in this order:

Test Track
Spaceship Earth
The Seas With Nemo
Turtle Talk/Sea Base (we would probably be OK with skipping either of these if time doesn't permit)
Journey of Water
Soarin'
Living with the Land
Awesome Planet (also could skip this)
Journey into Imagination
Disney/Pixar Film Festival (might skip)

This would minimize back-tracking, although at some point we would have to cross back to the other side of the park for our GOTG VBG; at that point we could possibly also do Mission Space, but most likely we would skip that.

So I guess to achieve this I would rope drop Test Track and get my first LL for The Seas? Then get LLs for Soarin' & Journey Into Imagination?

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

The Friendship Boats are what you're talking about, but they won't be up that early most of the time.

Ah I just googled this and apparently they don't start running till 11:00. I think I'll stick with just rope-dropping Remy, then continuing counter-clockwise, and try to ride Frozen during the fireworks.

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014

Akileese posted:

I've done something that like that basically once by myself and I was absolutely torched after it. It was a first day and I did DAK the next day because I knew it was a half-day park and I could take it at my own pace. If you have a party, especially with kiddos, you're never getting that many rides in.

A bunch of the rides in MK are kind of placeholders, "if we have time", but we could totally skip if we're rushed/tired. My ideal order of rides would be:

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Peter Pan
Carousel & Small World
Pooh & Little Mermaid
Space Mountain
Buzz Lightyear
Monster's Inc
Haunted Mansion
Carousel of Progress
Big Thunder Mountain
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
and of course Tron, wherever it happens to fit in.

The "Would Like To Do If We Have Time" category would include Philharmagic, Dumbo OR Aladdin's Carpets, Enchanted Tales, Barnstormer, Astro Orbiter & People Mover
The "Not Really Interested But Might Do It If We Have Time To Kill" category would include Tiki Room, Swiss Family Tree House, Hall of Presidents, Tom Sawyer Island, Liberty Square Riverboat, Tomorrowland Speedway & Mad Tea Party.

There are supposed to be extended park hours on this day so that should help. Most of my party are in our 30s & 40s but we will have one small child and one older person. However, those two people may choose to go back to the hotel earlier to get to bed at a decent time.

crabkettle
Jan 6, 2014

Jose Oquendo posted:

Crabkettle, you might want to see if you can change things so you do Epcot in one day and do two at MK.

If you only care about rides, Epcot is easily a 1 day park.

We've always done Epcot as 2 parks because we just really enjoy taking World Showcase as a leisurely stroll and spending as much time as we want in each country. Of course, back in the old days, there were no high-demand rides with long waits in WS, so having a strategic plan just wasn't necessary. We never spent a full day at each half of Epcot - maybe 3/4 of a day was plenty, but we felt like combining both halves of Epcot into 1 day was too much. I feel like splitting the park into 2 days will leave us with several hours left at the end of each day where we could hop over to MK and knock out a few of the rides there.

In fact, I wonder if at 1:00 PM on our first Epcot day, I should try to get a VBG for Tron? Then after we finish our day at Epcot, we could hop over to MK, go to Tomorrowland, and see if we could get in Tron and Space Mountain in the evening, maybe Astro Orbiter too. The oldest and youngest members of our group would be heading back to the hotel at that time, and they would not have wanted to ride Tron or SM anyway.

Akileese
Feb 6, 2005

crabkettle posted:

A bunch of the rides in MK are kind of placeholders, "if we have time", but we could totally skip if we're rushed/tired. My ideal order of rides would be:

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Peter Pan
Carousel & Small World
Pooh & Little Mermaid
Space Mountain
Buzz Lightyear
Monster's Inc
Haunted Mansion
Carousel of Progress
Big Thunder Mountain
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
and of course Tron, wherever it happens to fit in.

The "Would Like To Do If We Have Time" category would include Philharmagic, Dumbo OR Aladdin's Carpets, Enchanted Tales, Barnstormer, Astro Orbiter & People Mover
The "Not Really Interested But Might Do It If We Have Time To Kill" category would include Tiki Room, Swiss Family Tree House, Hall of Presidents, Tom Sawyer Island, Liberty Square Riverboat, Tomorrowland Speedway & Mad Tea Party.

There are supposed to be extended park hours on this day so that should help. Most of my party are in our 30s & 40s but we will have one small child and one older person. However, those two people may choose to go back to the hotel earlier to get to bed at a decent time.

Carousel is a perfect fit in for when you're tired and need a sit since it's like 25 minutes. Keep in mind Big Thunder is closed until the 21st for a quick refurb, but it's normally very easy to get a LL for. In fact, most of those are with the exception of Peter Pan and possibly Jungle Cruise. Monsters Inc Laugh Floor is a show type deal. I'll be honest and say in all the times I've been there, I've never seen it. I've found that Tron is easier to get an early VQ for than CW.

One suggestion I have is regarding Space Mountain. That thing has gotten really rough depending on which car/seat you're in. I suggest either riding it early or late. I had one instance where it beat me up so bad I just ended up leaving.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

crabkettle posted:

I see what you're saying now that I'm actually looking at a map of Epcot. Like, originally, I had Spaceship Earth and Journey Into Imagination grouped together because they're both considered part of "World Celebration", but looking at the map I see they're actually not really close to each other.

So a revised plan would hopefully allow me to do attractions in this order:

Test Track
Spaceship Earth
The Seas With Nemo
Turtle Talk/Sea Base (we would probably be OK with skipping either of these if time doesn't permit)
Journey of Water
Soarin'
Living with the Land
Awesome Planet (also could skip this)
Journey into Imagination
Disney/Pixar Film Festival (might skip)

This would minimize back-tracking, although at some point we would have to cross back to the other side of the park for our GOTG VBG; at that point we could possibly also do Mission Space, but most likely we would skip that.

So I guess to achieve this I would rope drop Test Track and get my first LL for The Seas? Then get LLs for Soarin' & Journey Into Imagination?

You can watch Awesome Planet at home and get the same experience; it's just a nice movie. The Film Festival is a good place to sit down and chill out for a moment, but if you're feeling good, there's no point in doing that unless the kiddos REALLY need a good cartoon and some quiet away from the crowds.

That's a much, much better plan and will be a lot easier on your feet and everybody else, too. If I'm with a group, I do a similar path. I'm by myself with my service dog, we usually just go straight to the Seas and go see his friend, Marlin (his ears get Very tall when he hears Marlin's voice. Why? Who knows. Tail beats me half to death. It's great)

Hazo
Dec 30, 2004

SCIENCE



Wife and I haven’t been on a trip with just the two of us in a while, so a few months ago we scheduled a really nice 5-day trip staying at Pop Century starting this Saturday.

I lost my job at the end of November. Then last night we realized the skyliner (which is part of the reason we picked Pop) is closed during our stay.

At least the rooms were cheap.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

Hazo posted:

Wife and I haven’t been on a trip with just the two of us in a while, so a few months ago we scheduled a really nice 5-day trip staying at Pop Century starting this Saturday.

I lost my job at the end of November. Then last night we realized the skyliner (which is part of the reason we picked Pop) is closed during our stay.

At least the rooms were cheap.

I'm sorry about your job but despite the skyliner, sit back and enjoy 5 days at Pop. Try to let it roll off your back.

Arquinsiel
Jun 1, 2006

"There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first."

God Bless Margaret Thatcher
God Bless England
RIP My Iron Lady

Anya posted:

Genie+ is a daily purchase for WDW tickets. Only for Disneyland/DCA tickets can you add it at purchase for length of stay.
That's way better than I understood it to be when I was there in 2022. It's possible that Disney communicated the pricing structure terribly, but it it seemed nuts to me that I'd have to commit to buying it for each day at the point when I wanted to get it for one.

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Anya
Nov 3, 2004
"If you have information worth hearing, then I am grateful for it. If you're gonna crack jokes, then I'm gonna pull out your ribcage and wear it as a hat."

Arquinsiel posted:

That's way better than I understood it to be when I was there in 2022. It's possible that Disney communicated the pricing structure terribly, but it it seemed nuts to me that I'd have to commit to buying it for each day at the point when I wanted to get it for one.

It has changed over time, initially it was an add on for entire length of ticket OR purchase per day. By mid 2022, they changed the option and it went to just pay per day. So you’re not wrong in your memory.

Now it’s a per day purchase, with choice of purchasing for all four parks if you have PH on your ticket, or you can purchase per park. But MK and the park hopping G+ have been the same price, typically with HS / EP / AK priced less in that order.

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