I posted a ton on the
genie+ strategy thread so I won't post here about that. You can go there to read that. I used it for every park. I'll focus on some other things as I wait for my flight:
1. crowds. It's time to get back in the pre Covid mindset. I used to say to folks that Disney is always crowded.Make a plan and set priorities. We need to go back to thinking like that because the crowds are back.
2. Busses. They were frustrating at times from movies. And contrary to what I read about in October- movies and music were sharing busses. Not all the time but sometimes. There was also a lot of inconsistencies in busses leaving a big gap between bus times sometimes. Especially after the Christmas party. Luckily got a good and early bus for DHS but on MK day first bus came, filled up and there wasn't another behind it... long gap.
3. festival of the holidays- food was great and even on a busy Epcot day those lines moved fast.
4. Mobile ordering is a must. And to use it best think ahead to your meals. I would put in an order for later and then when I knew I would start walking that way I would click the prepare button. I hardly ever waited for food.
5. mobile shopping- many stores now including creations shop, emporium, and world of Disney allow you to use the app to scan the items and pay. You then just take a QR code it gives you to a stand in the store and they quickly verify and you are good to go. This saved me a huge wait in world of Disney and creations shop.
6. the projections show at night in each park were awesome and worth just hanging out for 30 minutes or so to catch them all- the Christmas and regular versions.
7. The my day section on the free genie is a bit annoying with its recommendations but I did like being able to see entertainment/calvacades/show times and being able to add them to my day. It kept them on my brain that I wanted to do them.
8. This was my first stay at movies and had previously stayed at POP. POP is 100% worth the extra cost.
9. cast members were very nice and I had a few extra magical moments. I did find that cast members were very direct sometimes in their instructions to guests regarding masks or lines. I actually appreciated this.
10. I did all 4 parks plus the Christmas party (my experience there is posted on that thread). No hopper. I felt like this really allowed me to take in each park.
11. Enchantment and harmonious are awesome and moving. I don't understand the negativity around them.
12. I did a dessert party. I posted about it on that thread but it was meh and I do not recommend.
13. As a solo traveler I did all the things but the pace I went at I could not do with the family. Hollywood studios is a "hard" park.. I actually think it could be done better in two days.
It was a magical trip and there is still lots of magic at DisneyWorld and I felt it.
