EE, LL, ILL, stacking at MK...my head is about to explode.

[mgc]

HI All- Wondering if anyone could provide some advice. My head is about to explode as I try to prepare for a variety of scenarios and I do not know what is a realistic plan anymore!!

The Plan: MK for one day, per TP it will be level 9 crowds. Staying at Poly for the night, will use early entry. Will also purchase genie+

We've got a group of 8 if us, with a mix of ages but taking into account everyone's "top 3 must-do rides", we have a list of 9 priority rides:
Space Mountain (will do first with early entry)
7DMT (will purchase ILL)
BTM
Splash
Pirates
Haunted Mansion
Small World
Buzz
Tomorrowland Speedway

In one scenario- we just keep going until we get them all done with a mix of standby and LL
In the other- we take a mid day break. This is where I struggle to figure out which rides and LL passes we prioritize for the morning and which ones we test our luck with to try to stack for a return later in the day. I am assuming I would have to start stacking with my 11a LL. So really I'd only be able to use one LL for the morning-correct?
Should also mention- we've got few young kids and few not-young grown-ups, so standing in a 60+ minute line isn't really a viable option, so when we do standby would hope to keep it to 30-40 min max.

If any one of you lovely people has ideas about how you would approach this (what to me feels like a puzzle with many missing pieces!), I would be forever grateful!

 

[meremac]

I'd personally do Genie+ for Splash right away, getting it for as early as you can. Then, since you plan to ride Space during Early Entry, I'd knock out Speedway and Buzz right after. Then I'd go to Haunted Mansion standby. You might even be able to get on Small World standby too. Then right after scanning into Splash, go for BTMR Genie+. Then after that, go for Pirates Genie+. Depending on how far out your BTMR Genie+ was, you might be able to stack that and Pirates. Then go from there!

 

[lions1995]

I'd personally do Genie+ for Splash right away, getting it for as early as you can. Then, since you plan to ride Space during Early Entry, I'd knock out Speedway and Buzz right after. Then I'd go to Haunted Mansion standby. You might even be able to get on Small World standby too. Then right after scanning into Splash, go for BTMR Genie+. Then after that, go for Pirates Genie+. Depending on how far out your BTMR Genie+ was, you might be able to stack that and Pirates. Then go from there!

That is a very solid plan.

 

[mgc]

I'd personally do Genie+ for Splash right away, getting it for as early as you can. Then, since you plan to ride Space during Early Entry, I'd knock out Speedway and Buzz right after. Then I'd go to Haunted Mansion standby. You might even be able to get on Small World standby too. Then right after scanning into Splash, go for BTMR Genie+. Then after that, go for Pirates Genie+. Depending on how far out your BTMR Genie+ was, you might be able to stack that and Pirates. Then go from there!

Thank you so much- this is so helpful!

 

[lockets]

That is a very solid plan.

I agree except with level 9 crowds Haunted Mansion might be a longggg standby. Was there in January and it was very, very busy. We waited for HM for at least an hour or more.

We had similar rides preferences. We did:

Astro Orbiter - Standby - We wanted to be in the area for Space Mountain ILL. So that's kind of equivalent to your Tomorrowland Speedway. We waited 45 minutes.
Space Mountain (ILL) - equivalent to your rope drop
Monsters - Standby - Wait wasn't that long maybe 20 min
7 Dwarves Mine Train (ILL)
Mobile Lunch Order
Haunted Mansion - Very long standby. Grueling to wait in that line. It was so slow!
Jungle Cruise (G+) - Thank goodness we got the G+. Standby was long the whole day.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (G+)
fyi Splash Mountain was closed.

At this point nothing super great was available for us on G+ so we selected:
Pirates of the Caribbean (G+)
Small World - Standby - was already night and fireworks were starting. No line
Buzz Lightyear (G+)
Space Mountain - Rode a second time during fireworks on standby. Was a walk on.

If I was able to book Haunted Mansion using G+ during the third booking window for my day... I think I would have been better off, but it wasn't available and Jungle Cruise was a super long standby line too so I selected that instead. I guess my point is - - of your list definitely prioritize G+ for Haunted, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Splash Mountain. Also keep in mind the windows are 7 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM, 5 PM, 7 PM to book G+. If you don't have those three popular ones booked by 1 PM they may not be available for the rest of the day.

My understanding is some people are able to fit more G+ selections in when they don't stack night time rides because they can tap into a G+ ride and then select another G+ ride if it's before their next booking window (as long as they didn't book anything else for later in the day). IMO those who have been able to do that have been very lucky to get the rides they want. Some of the rides only have later times available. So for instance if your booking window is 1 PM and you already used the 11 AM window to book a 5 PM ride then you make your 1 PM selection and you cannot add another G+ ride until 3 PM and 5 PM and in our experience that's about when ride selections for G+ start to run out. If you used your 11 AM window to book a 12 PM ride then you have the opportunity to book another G+ ride before 1 PM. For that to happen you really have to be on top of the phone and probably willing to trek across the park for all the different rides.

 

[mgc]

I agree except with level 9 crowds Haunted Mansion might be a longggg standby. Was there in January and it was very, very busy. We waited for HM for at least an hour or more. We had a somewhat similar rides preference. We did:

Astro Orbiter - Standby - We wanted to be in the area for Space Mountain ILL. So that's kind of equivalent to your Tomorrowland Speedway. We waited 45 minutes.
Space Mountain (ILL) - equivalent to your rope drop
Monsters - Standby - Wait wasn't that long maybe 20 min
7 Dwarves Mine Train (ILL)
Mobile Lunch Order
Haunted Mansion - Very long standby. Grueling to wait in that line. It was so slow!
Jungle Cruise (G+) - Thank goodness we got the G+. Standby was long the whole day.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (G+)
fyi Splash Mountain was closed.

At this point nothing super great was available for us on G+ so we selected:
Pirates of the Caribbean (G+)
Small World - Standby - was already night and fireworks were starting. No line
Buzz (G+)
Space Mountain - Rode a second time during fireworks on standby. Was a walk on.

If I could have somehow booked Haunted Mansion using G+ during the third booking window for my day... I think I would have been better off, but it wasn't available and Jungle Cruise was a super long standby line too so I selected that instead. I guess my point is - - of your list definitely prioritize G+ for Haunted, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Splash Mountain.

Also keep in mind the windows are 7 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM, 5 PM, 7 PM to book G+ and if you don't have those three popular ones booked by 1 PM they may not be available for the rest of the day. My understanding is some people are able to fit more G+ selections in when they don't stack a night time ride because they can tap into a G+ ride and then select another G+ ride if it's before their next booking window and nothing else is booked for the day. IMO those who have been able to do that have been very lucky. Some of the rides only have later times available and if you're booking window is 1 PM and you already used the 11 AM window to book a ride at 5 PM for instance then you select something during 1 PM window and can't add another G+ ride until 3 PM and that's where things start to run out on you.

Thank you for sharing this info- it's very helpful!!

 

[meremac]

I agree except with level 9 crowds Haunted Mansion might be a longggg standby. Was there in January and it was very, very busy. We waited for HM for at least an hour or more.

We had similar rides preferences. We did:

Astro Orbiter - Standby - We wanted to be in the area for Space Mountain ILL. So that's kind of equivalent to your Tomorrowland Speedway. We waited 45 minutes.
Space Mountain (ILL) - equivalent to your rope drop
Monsters - Standby - Wait wasn't that long maybe 20 min
7 Dwarves Mine Train (ILL)
Mobile Lunch Order
Haunted Mansion - Very long standby. Grueling to wait in that line. It was so slow!
Jungle Cruise (G+) - Thank goodness we got the G+. Standby was long the whole day.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (G+)
fyi Splash Mountain was closed.

It looks like you did HM a little later than what I was suggesting. OP will likely be getting to HM at 9:30am-ish. It shouldn't be too bad then even with Level 9 crowds (people will still be at Space, 7DMT, Splash, and BTMR at that point). But OP, if you get there and there IS a long line, I'd hop on IASW instead and use Genie+ for HM later. In that case, I'd go for an HM Genie+ after your BTMR Genie+, then POTC after that.

 

[MinMou]

Just so you know, OP - your title expresses exactly how I feel. You are MUCH further along than me, so have faith, you WILL find a way to make this work.

 

[MsVanderquack]

The one thing I would add is be sure to do Buzz before Speedway, since Buzz will gather a line before Speedway does. Good luck to you! It sounds very doable.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

I would also barrel through until all of the rides are done. Then enjoy the fireworks and electrical parade from the Poly.