Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[cjlong88]

Thanks for a great comprehensive report!

Could you explain this please? I thought that you didn't have an option on return times. That it will only give you the next available return time, which may be earlier than you plan to arrive at the park. So if you "start reserving times in the morning" for an afternoon / evening visit, how are you able to do this and get only evening return times?

I find that there are 2 Basic Strategies when it comes to using the Lightning Lane. There are certainly more nuanced methods that combines these strategies, but for the sake of simplicity, let's keep them separate:

Strategy 1: Book LL's with immediate return times (or close-to-immediate) and use them one at a time. This will feel most like FP+, specifically when you would book FP's for additional attractions after using your initial 3. Book and use, book and use, etc. You cannot modify a selected time, so if you are refreshing the app and find something better pop up, you will need to cancel and rebook.

Strategy 2: You use the 120-minute rule to stack LL's in the evening. You need to strategically select the rides in a particular order so that every 120 minutes you can book a ride that is already posting evening return times. This is going to feel more like the paper FP system. Some rides will naturally post later return times quicker because they are more popular. You should try to book rides from most to least popular, which is easy to figure out, because every two hours I would just select the ride that has the latest return window. By the afternoon you will have a number of attractions stacked in the evening that I can use back-to-back.

 

[SmileEar2Ear]

Thanks for a great comprehensive report!

Could you explain this please? I thought that you didn't have an option on return times. That it will only give you the next available return time, which may be earlier than you plan to arrive at the park. So if you "start reserving times in the morning" for an afternoon / evening visit, how are you able to do this and get only evening return times?

We stacked for Epcot on our arrival day. We didn’t plan to get to the park until almost 4:00. At 7:00am I got a VQ for GG and then went to book Remy and refreshed two or three times and by that point it was pushed out to 4pm so I booked it. Then two hours after park open (as we were boarding the plane) I got Frozen because it had pushed out to 8:20 by that time. Two hours later I could book again and got Soarin for 4:40. We got in the park and started using those, plus we got one for Figment and Spaceship Earth. It made for a great night.

 

[Aussie RJ]

We had planned a day at Typhoon lagoon and a night at Epcot. Stacking throughout the day made the night at Epcot extremely enjoyable. Rode Remy, Frozen, Test Track, GOTG, Soarin’ and spaceship earth. All in about a 2 - 3 hour period.
I did try this a second time during my trip and although it worked, a bad storm passed though and we never left our room at boardwalk. So maybe consider that if you are traveling during the summer months and don’t like the heavy rain.

 

[HeiHei2018]

We stacked for Epcot on our arrival day. We didn’t plan to get to the park until almost 4:00. At 7:00am I got a VQ for GG and then went to book Remy and refreshed two or three times and by that point it was pushed out to 4pm so I booked it. Then two hours after park open (as we were boarding the plane) I got Frozen because it had pushed out to 8:20 by that time. Two hours later I could book again and got Soarin for 4:40. We got in the park and started using those, plus we got one for Figment and Spaceship Earth. It made for a great night.

Thanks for sharing. We want to stack Remy and Frozen on our arrival day, but I was getting nervous about availability. Did you do your second pull right at 2 hours after open? Thrill data shows availability disappearping right at 10:30, which makes me nervous.

 

[mwmom]

I find that there are 2 Basic Strategies when it comes to using the Lightning Lane. There are certainly more nuanced methods that combines these strategies, but for the sake of simplicity, let's keep them separate:

Strategy 1: Book LL's with immediate return times (or close-to-immediate) and use them one at a time. This will feel most like FP+, specifically when you would book attractions after using your initial 3. Book and use, book and use, etc. You cannot modify a selected time, so if you are refreshing the app and find something that's better pop up, you will need to cancel and rebook.

Strategy 2: You use the 120-minute rule to stack LL's in the evening. You need to strategically select the rides in a particular order so that every 120 minutes you can book a ride that is already posting evening return times. This is going to feel more like the paper FP system. Some rides will naturally post later return times quicker because they are more popular. You will want to book from most to least popular, which is easy to figure out, because every two hours I would just select the ride that has the latest return window. By the afternoon I will have a bunch of attractions stacked in the evening that I can use back-to-back.

Concise and easy to understand post about the 2 different strategies. Yes, there are those who have it down and can combine the strategies, but this is a good way for beginners to get a feel for the different ways to use it. My head was starting to spin, because just as I thought I had it down, I questioned myself. Thank you for this post!

 

[Wdw1015]

Just got back, couple observations:
- LOVE the skyliner, complete game changer. That said….I really wish they would be better at communicating when it’s down for lightning. Two different times we were near the front of Epcot, walked back to the skyliner only to find out it was down for weather (didn’t see lightning either time). Then had to turn around and walk ALL the way back. Wish they would send a push notification to those staying on the skyliner resorts when at those 2 parks. They know where we are and where we are staying.

- Cast members were amazing! Didn’t encounter anyone with a less than magical attitude.

- Several mornings, we got caught behind people using their phones as their tickets and for some reason, everytime, the scanners wouldn’t work on them. Wish they’d get better scanners if they aren’t going to provide magic bands anymore.

- Clean parks and bathrooms, saw people cleaning up everywhere.

 

[SusanDK]

If you are hopping, all times chosen for your 2nd park will be after 2pm, that helps.
If you are not hopping, the headliners (SDD at HS for instance) will have late evening time in a few minutes after 7am so you book those first (not easy in MK on low crowds days).

So with this method, let's say you want to go to HS in the late afternoon / evening as your only park that day. So you might reserve Epcot initially? But from early in the morning, you start requesting HS Genie+ attractions and it will only show you options from 2 pm and later? You keep adding every 2 hours and will get a batch for the evening. So the only issue is you must then go to Epcot first and check in before you can hop to HS. Do I have that right?

 

[SusanDK]

I find that there are 2 Basic Strategies when it comes to using the Lightning Lane. There are certainly more nuanced methods that combines these strategies, but for the sake of simplicity, let's keep them separate:

Strategy 1: Book LL's with immediate return times (or close-to-immediate) and use them one at a time. This will feel most like FP+, specifically when you would book attractions after using your initial 3. Book and use, book and use, etc. You cannot modify a selected time, so if you are refreshing the app and find something that's better pop up, you will need to cancel and rebook.

Strategy 2: You use the 120-minute rule to stack LL's in the evening. You need to strategically select the rides in a particular order so that every 120 minutes you can book a ride that is already posting evening return times. This is going to feel more like the paper FP system. Some rides will naturally post later return times quicker because they are more popular. You will want to book from most to least popular, which is easy to figure out, because every two hours I would just select the ride that has the latest return window. By the afternoon I will have a bunch of attractions stacked in the evening that I can use back-to-back.

Thank you.

Do I correctly understand that Strategy 1 is *not* for those who only want to arrive in the late afternoon / evening?

Strategy 2 could work for the late arrivers, but you need to pick as late a return as possible for each ride starting in the morning. So if you log into Genie+ in the morning for a late visit to Epcot, you see you can get TT at noon, Soarin' at 10 am, Frozen at 4 pm. So you select Frozen for 4 pm. Then two hours later, you log in and see you can get Nemo at 11 am, Soarin' at 2 pm, and TT at 6 pm, so you select TT. Two hours later, you look and see Nemo at 1 pm and Soarin' at 8 pm, so grab Soarin'. And so on ...

Have I got that correct? The only question now is whether you are restricted from selecting an attraction too close to one of your other selections, like with FP+. If you are grabbing them 2 hours apart throughout the day, could you feasibly end up with two attractions only a half an hour apart, or is there still a minimum one-hour gap between any two LL's?

 

[cjlong88]

Thank you.

Do I correctly understand that Strategy 1 is *not* for those who only want to arrive in the late afternoon / evening?

Strategy 2 could work for the late arrivers, but you need to pick as late a return as possible for each ride starting in the morning. So if you log into Genie+ in the morning for a late visit to Epcot, you see you can get TT at noon, Soarin' at 10 am, Frozen at 4 pm. So you select Frozen for 4 pm. Then two hours later, you log in and see you can get Nemo at 11 am, Soarin' at 2 pm, and TT at 6 pm, so you select TT. Two hours later, you look and see Nemo at 1 pm and Soarin' at 8 pm, so grab Soarin'. And so on ...

Have I got that correct? The only question now is whether you are restricted from selecting an attraction too close to one of your other selections, like with FP+. If you are grabbing them 2 hours apart throughout the day, could you feasibly end up with two attractions only a half an hour apart, or is there still a minimum one-hour gap between any two LL's?

You are correct in your example. Additionally, you can use Genie+ to watch the return times and see which attractions are running out first, second, third, etc. a few days before your trip so you have some general idea as to the order of attractions you will want to book. One thing to consider is criss-crossing throughout the park. A lot of guests have noted that with stacking LL's on G+ there might be more walking back and forth because you don't get to choose your return times like with FP+.

YES! Your LL's can overlap!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Can we please take the questions re: Genie and stacking to the Everything Genie thread? This topic is discussed at great length there. This thread is intended for sharing their recent experiences in the park.

 

[serenitygr]

Thank you.

Do I correctly understand that Strategy 1 is *not* for those who only want to arrive in the late afternoon / evening?

Strategy 2 could work for the late arrivers, but you need to pick as late a return as possible for each ride starting in the morning. So if you log into Genie+ in the morning for a late visit to Epcot, you see you can get TT at noon, Soarin' at 10 am, Frozen at 4 pm. So you select Frozen for 4 pm. Then two hours later, you log in and see you can get Nemo at 11 am, Soarin' at 2 pm, and TT at 6 pm, so you select TT. Two hours later, you look and see Nemo at 1 pm and Soarin' at 8 pm, so grab Soarin'. And so on ...

Have I got that correct? The only question now is whether you are restricted from selecting an attraction too close to one of your other selections, like with FP+. If you are grabbing them 2 hours apart throughout the day, could you feasibly end up with two attractions only a half an hour apart, or is there still a minimum one-hour gap between any two LL's?

I actually think in your example if you booked that last LL at 8pm you could no longer choose any others until you used the last one you had booked.

 

[lynzi2004]

Any recent experiences with GoTG VQ return times? Fast fingers landed an earlier boarding group than anticipated with BG #30…are they holding to the one hour window or can I stick with my original touring plan and show up a bit late??

 

[NavyDad]

I find that there are 2 Basic Strategies when it comes to using the Lightning Lane. There are certainly more nuanced methods that combines these strategies, but for the sake of simplicity, let's keep them separate:

Strategy 1: Book LL's with immediate return times (or close-to-immediate) and use them one at a time. This will feel most like FP+, specifically when you would book attractions after using your initial 3. Book and use, book and use, etc. You cannot modify a selected time, so if you are refreshing the app and find something that's better pop up, you will need to cancel and rebook.

Strategy 2: You use the 120-minute rule to stack LL's in the evening. You need to strategically select the rides in a particular order so that every 120 minutes you can book a ride that is already posting evening return times. This is going to feel more like the paper FP system. Some rides will naturally post later return times quicker because they are more popular. You will want to book from most to least popular, which is easy to figure out, because every two hours I would just select the ride that has the latest return window. By the afternoon I will have a bunch of attractions stacked in the evening that I can use back-to-back.

Agree with this and I would suggest strategy 2 works out best for Park Hopping.

This is a big part of why Genie+ and $ILL worked out so good for us in Spring. We like to hop. Generally we will rope drop one park, take a break at the hotel and then go to the second park in the later afternoon to early evening. Strategy 2 works perfect with our touring style.

 

[ak517]

Any recent experiences with GoTG VQ return times? Fast fingers landed an earlier boarding group than anticipated with BG #30…are they holding to the one hour window or can I stick with my original touring plan and show up a bit late??

You can show up late to a VQ for GOTG. I haven't tried it personally, but there are many many reports of this being the case. ILL windows are constrained to the hour, plus grace periods on either end.

ETA: ILLs for other rides may be monitored for return window plus grace period, but it appears this is not the case for GOTG.

 

[scrappinginontario]

You can show up late to a VQ for GOTG. I haven't tried it personally, but there are many many reports of this being the case. ILL windows are constrained to the hour, plus grace periods on either end.

Are you saying the GotG grace period is different for VQ vs ILL$? I can’t say that I’ve heard this.

I understood the return time was not being monitored for either but you say that’s incorrect?

 

[ak517]

Are you saying the GotG grace period is different for VQ vs ILL$? I can’t say that I’ve heard this.

I understood the return time was not being monitored for either but you say that’s incorrect?

I haven't heard or tested the ILL return time grace period for GOTG, so I am working on my assumption on ILLs and G+ grace periods work on other rides! I apologize if this is incorrect and they are not in fact enforcing ILL return times or grace periods. I can edit my post to reflect this.

 

[Erica Ladd]

I haven’t heard anyone on this thread say that they could show up anytime for a $ILL for GotG. I have only seen people say this about the VQ. Are we sure of this? Is it that way for all $ILLs? Seems weird as YOU pick the time, it’s not random like a VQ.

 

[DMLAINI]

So we're sleeping in on our EPCOT day because we'll be at MNSSHP the night prior. I'll be staying LL's for later in the day. If we're lucky & get a boarding group for Guardians & it's early, we can show up late & still ride?

 

[mikalkwin]

Yes, there's been reports of people showing up 5 hours later and no issues from CM when taping in blue.

 

[NatNicMum]

Thanks for a great comprehensive report!

Could you explain this please? I thought that you didn't have an option on return times. That it will only give you the next available return time, which may be earlier than you plan to arrive at the park. So if you "start reserving times in the morning" for an afternoon / evening visit, how are you able to do this and get only evening return times?

"Reserve" was probably not the best word. Sorry to confuse. Essentially, we would "pick" a Genie+ time that would work for us when we planned to arrive around 1 or 2. So for Animal Kingdom, at 7AM we chose the latest available time. Then 2 hours after park open, I would chose another late time. The only park where this was an issue was Magic Kingdom because it takes awhile to get to afternoon Genie+ times. One day I did not book my first Genie+ until after park open. This meant that I was not able to book my second Genie+ until 11:10 instead of 11 but that really did not affect the ability to choose good rides. It was kind of a game. We were sitting at the pool and we would check every five minutes to see if the Splash Genie + time was late enough so we could book it.