Extended hours

[clairevav]

We are coming to Disney in July but having been before when Fast Passes existed I am unsure as to how it will all operate now. We are staying in a Disney hotel but only now get 30 mins (last time we went it was an hour) in the parks before full opening. So will prob only be able to squeeze one ride in then??
Then we had fast passes to enable us to enjoy the day. Should I be getting the genie + - it seems to have really mixed reviews.
Plus as a Disney guest - do the extended evening hours make it easier to access rides or are the queues still horrendous?
I guess what I’m nervous about is previously I have been able to organise my Disney holiday like a military operation and this time I don’t seem to be able to organise a thing beforehand!
My children were young the last time we went but are now 11,13 and 16 so I guess a bit easier to queue with but still - i want it to be a holiday of a lifetime!
Any advice on extended hours/queues/Genie+ - basically the best way to organise a Disney day - greatly appreciated!
Thank you.

 

[Meglen]

Lower your expectation.. "Holiday of a lifetime" is... just starting the bar way to high. You cant plan like we used to with fp+ its all up in the air everyday if you use Genie+. If you dont buy g+ you will be able to plan which standby lines you will be in but times may very. Early hours you can get about 2 rides in if your in the park early and at the front of the lines. Evening hours are nice but the headliners are still pretty long(30-90min)

 

[rangerxenos]

We are coming to Disney in July but having been before when Fast Passes existed I am unsure as to how it will all operate now. We are staying in a Disney hotel but only now get 30 mins (last time we went it was an hour) in the parks before full opening. So will prob only be able to squeeze one ride in then??
Then we had fast passes to enable us to enjoy the day. Should I be getting the genie + - it seems to have really mixed reviews.
Plus as a Disney guest - do the extended evening hours make it easier to access rides or are the queues still horrendous?
I guess what I’m nervous about is previously I have been able to organise my Disney holiday like a military operation and this time I don’t seem to be able to organise a thing beforehand!
My children were young the last time we went but are now 11,13 and 16 so I guess a bit easier to queue with but still - i want it to be a holiday of a lifetime!
Any advice on extended hours/queues/Genie+ - basically the best way to organise a Disney day - greatly appreciated!
Thank you.

I assume you're staying at a Deluxe or DVC. If not, remember that the Extended Evening hours are limited to those hotels.

 

[clairevav]

I assume you're staying at a Deluxe or DVC. If not, remember that the Extended Evening hours are limited to those hotels.

Yes Deluxe

 

[clairevav]

Lower your expectation.. "Holiday of a lifetime" is... just starting the bar way to high. You cant plan like we used to with fp+ its all up in the air everyday if you use Genie+. If you dont buy g+ you will be able to plan which standby lines you will be in but times may very. Early hours you can get about 2 rides in if your in the park early and at the front of the lines. Evening hours are nice but the headliners are still pretty long(30-90min)

I know you are right but how sad that we now have to lower our expectations- especially when it’s going to cost an absolute fortune!

 

[Meglen]

I know you are right but how sad that we now have to lower our expectations- especially when it’s going to cost an absolute fortune!

yea

 

[supernova]

We are coming to Disney in July but having been before when Fast Passes existed I am unsure as to how it will all operate now. We are staying in a Disney hotel but only now get 30 mins (last time we went it was an hour) in the parks before full opening. So will prob only be able to squeeze one ride in then??
Then we had fast passes to enable us to enjoy the day. Should I be getting the genie + - it seems to have really mixed reviews.
Plus as a Disney guest - do the extended evening hours make it easier to access rides or are the queues still horrendous?
I guess what I’m nervous about is previously I have been able to organise my Disney holiday like a military operation and this time I don’t seem to be able to organise a thing beforehand!
My children were young the last time we went but are now 11,13 and 16 so I guess a bit easier to queue with but still - i want it to be a holiday of a lifetime!
Any advice on extended hours/queues/Genie+ - basically the best way to organise a Disney day - greatly appreciated!
Thank you.

When I was there last month, Disney was offering the 30 minute earlier admission for resort guests. I'm visiting again at the end of April and I don't see the early morning hours listed this time. Instead, they're offering 2 hours extra in the evening on a Wednesday at the Magic Kingdom. Wondering if they're just not showing the 30-minute blocks on the site or if they scrapped them for that period. Now that you've posted this, I'm on hold with DVC as I type this to see if I'm (hopefully) missing something.

 

[clairevav]

When I was there last month, Disney was offering the 30 minute earlier admission for resort guests. I'm visiting again at the end of April and I don't see the early morning hours listed this time. Instead, they're offering 2 hours extra in the evening on a Wednesday at the Magic Kingdom. Wondering if they're just not showing the 30-minute blocks on the site or if they scrapped them for that period. Now that you've posted this, I'm on hold with DVC as I type this to see if I'm (hopefully) missing something.

I was hoping we would have the benefit of both of these!!!

 

[lanejudy]

WDW offers 30 minutes "early entry" at all 4 parks every day for those staying at a WDW resort. Instead of a separate line item listing this every day for each park, it is noted at the top of the schedule.

The 2 hour "extended evening hours" is for deluxe resort guests (not all resort guests). These are typically 2 days per week, usually Epcot on Mondays and MK on Wednesdays.

There is more information about both Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours on the Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies forum.

 

[lanejudy]

to see if I'm (hopefully) missing something

 

[gregskellington]

To answer one of your questions, the extended evening hours have been great in my experience. I think it's a pretty nice perk for Deluxe/DVC guests.

I don't know how it will work in July (I'll be there to figure it out, though!) But my experience with early hours was that 30 minutes wasn't true. Every park I went to was really doing 45 minutes or more. I found this lack of policy frustrating to work with. If a park opens at 9, early entry is at 830. I wouldn't show up at 8 thinking you'll be good, as it was my experience that early entry may have already started at that point and you're behind everyone else.

 

[Meglen]

To answer one of your questions, the extended evening hours have been great in my experience. I think it's a pretty nice perk for Deluxe/DVC guests.

I don't know how it will work in July (I'll be there to figure it out, though!) But my experience with early hours was that 30 minutes wasn't true. Every park I went to was really doing 45 minutes or more. I found this lack of policy frustrating to work with. If a park opens at 9, early entry is at 830. I wouldn't show up at 8 thinking you'll be good, as it was my experience that early entry may have already started at that point and you're behind everyone else.

They let people into the parks pretty early and hold them in spots around the park. But getting on a ride won't start till 8:30. This means if you want to really use the 30 min be at the park an hour before the extra time starts so your at the front of the pack.

 

[gregskellington]

They let people into the parks pretty early and hold them in spots around the park. But getting on a ride won't start till 8:30. This means if you want to really use the 30 min be at the park an hour before the extra time starts so your at the front of the pack.

This wasn't totally true in my experience. FoP at AK started running early and almost all of HS was, too. At MK rides didn't seem to start early, though.

 

[Meglen]

This wasn't totally true in my experience. FoP at AK started running early and almost all of HS was, too. At MK rides didn't seem to start early, though.

odd at HS we were held to the min for ToT

 

[supernova]

odd at HS we were held to the min for ToT

Same for Epcot. We were let in earlier than 8:30 and the woman at Spaceship Earth was turning people away, suggesting that people get onto a more popular ride. So I walked over to a rope holding us near the new Guardians ride. Then at 8:30, they slowly walked us over to the entrance for Test Track. Even then, I jumped on the single rider line but they held me there until the families finished making their cars. First thing in the morning, they really need to just turn that part off so that people can walk through to the loading area. But I was on and off and still made it to SSE before the park opened.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

This wasn't totally true in my experience. FoP at AK started running early and almost all of HS was, too. At MK rides didn't seem to start early, though.

We were held for RnRC and there was also link for ToT. You could get in line, no rides opened early. Same at MK. You could get in line, but they didn't actually start the rides until 8:30 for a 9:00 park opening. And this was President's Day weekend when it was super busy and no park reservations available.

 

[gregskellington]

We were held for RnRC and there was also link for ToT. You could get in line, no rides opened early. Same at MK. You could get in line, but they didn't actually start the rides until 8:30 for a 9:00 park opening. And this was President's Day weekend when it was super busy and no park reservations available.

Interesting. This was a few days later. Actual riding was done before EE.