Tweaking magic kingdom day (2 weeks to go!)

jenna288 · 30 Jul 22, 07:08 PM

Just noticed that the day we had scheduled for MK the park hours are 9 am - 11pm! We have liberty tree tavern booked for 1:15 pm and dessert party for 9 pm. Our initial plan was to go to mk early and make use of genie plus, eat at 1:15 watch the parade then go back to the villa for a few hours and return for the dessert party. (Going back to the villa for a few hours to avoid the August afternoon heat ). DH just suggested we arrive at the park at 1:15 in time for liberty tree tavern and then just stay until late but I'm not sure the best thing to do. Any ideas?

Eeyore14 · 31 Jul 22, 08:16 AM

I think you would be fine doing what dh suggests. There are quite a few places with short wait times you can go for a break if needed Mickeys Philharmagic, the people mover, Tiki Room, the train, as well as the stores for a bit of air conditioning, the only place we find hotter than Mars in August was the area around BTMRR and SM.
The problem with leaving MK is having to get the boat and monorail, then the trolley bus to your car park area. One year we had a break just going on the monorail to the Grand Floridian and mooching about there for a bit.
Remember ice water is free from quick service stands.

jenna288 · 31 Jul 22, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by Eeyore14

I think you would be fine doing what dh suggests. There are quite a few places with short wait times you can go for a break if needed Mickeys Philharmagic, the people mover, Tiki Room, the train, as well as the stores for a bit of air conditioning, the only place we find hotter than Mars in August was the area around BTMRR and SM.
The problem with leaving MK is having to get the boat and monorail, then the trolley bus to your car park area. One year we had a break just going on the monorail to the Grand Floridian and mooching about there for a bit.
Remember ice water is free from quick service stands.

Thank you

yes you're right, the getting in and out of MK definitely adds alot of time x

**Floridafan** · 1 Aug 22, 01:24 PM

We�ve done rope drop until past midnight (it takes forever to get out). We were exhausted and the kids were tired but still up for ice cream on the way out!

sky13 · 1 Aug 22, 04:01 PM

I've read a few trip reports here and there about using Genie+ to stack rides at MK for later in the day, and then skipping rope drop. Seems to work pretty well actually, although you do miss the few rides you can get on with minimal wait at rope drop. With the trade off of being able to sleep in a little bit.

I'm actually quite tempted to try this on my trip, seems like a more relaxing way to do rides at MK! Though of course if I am up for rope drop I will be rope dropping...

jenna288 · 1 Aug 22, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by sky13

I've read a few trip reports here and there about using Genie+ to stack rides at MK for later in the day, and then skipping rope drop. Seems to work pretty well actually, although you do miss the few rides you can get on with minimal wait at rope drop. With the trade off of being able to sleep in a little bit.

I'm actually quite tempted to try this on my trip, seems like a more relaxing way to do rides at MK! Though of course if I am up for rope drop I will be rope dropping...

Can you book the first ride at 7am for later in the day and then book another 2 hours later? (And then every 2 hours). Still trying to get my head around genie plus

sky13 · 1 Aug 22, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by jenna288

Can you book the first ride at 7am for later in the day and then book another 2 hours later? (And then every 2 hours). Still trying to get my head around genie plus

I've been reading a lot of blog posts and forum posts in the last couple of weeks as am trying to get my head around Genie+ too!

What people seem to say (and I could be mistaken!) is

- You can't choose what time your Genie+ ride return time is

- At 7am or slightly after, you are likely to get a later return time for Peter Pan's Flight than for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

- So if stacking LL for later in the day - book the most popular rides (Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise) first, as these rides will likely have the latest return times.

- If the return time offered at 7am isn't late enough for you (e.g. offering a 12pm return time but you're not planning to enter the park until 3pm), you can keep refreshing until the return time gets pushed out to when you're planning to enter the park.

- You can't book a second LL until either you tap into your first LL reservation or 2 hours after park open. So if the park opens at 9am, there is no "penalty" if you booked your late LL at 9am compared to if you booked it at 7am as either way you can only book the next LL at 11am.

So the general plan for stacking late arrival LL seems to be to start with booking popular LL to begin with, as they are the most likely to have a late return time and you can also get one before they run out. Then book less popular LL as the day goes on, until finally you are in the late afternoon and booking LL with close return times.

I can't remember which trip reports I read exactly (and was reading them on another forum) but there were some people who posted their day with Genie+ and experiences with stacking LL for later in the day which helps make things a bit clearer! Touring Plans also has a blog post from March about stacking Genie+ (with an example day at MK!) which helped me a bit with understanding how it works.