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Post by Adelard of Bath on Jun 22, 2024 9:24:33 GMT -5
Internet: "Have a phone in each hand and get up at 6am and start refreshing and keep trying to stack rides and maximize the something"
Me: Sleeps until 9 or 10am every day, leaves for a park around 1 or 2pm, or 5 or 6pm maybe.
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Post by brp on Jun 22, 2024 10:06:40 GMT -5
I've seen it suggested that you begin refreshing the "join virtual queue" screen about ten seconds prior to 7 AM. To the OP--the Guardians and Tron virtual queues can "sell out" quickly, so use two phones--one to get your virtual queue and one to display the official US time (time.gov). That's what I do. I don't worry about the exact time since I'm doing a constant refresh. Since there is a fractional second regeneration time for each push, looking at real time doesn't help as it's all a question of luck to the second.
cheers.
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Post by johnb on Jun 22, 2024 10:23:04 GMT -5
Internet: "Have a phone in each hand and get up at 6am and start refreshing and keep trying to stack rides and maximize the something" Me: Sleeps until 9 or 10am every day, leaves for a park around 1 or 2pm, or 5 or 6pm maybe. That's pool time  |
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Post by MinnieMom on Jun 22, 2024 10:59:51 GMT -5
That's awesome that you are going back to the parks! I hope the upcoming vacation is magical!
Myself, I plan to continue ignoring paid fast passes in all iterations. There's just not enough value there for me. I'm just as happy chilling in the parks as riding the rides.
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Post by helenabear on Jun 22, 2024 11:19:06 GMT -5
I've seen it suggested that you begin refreshing the "join virtual queue" screen about ten seconds prior to 7 AM. To the OP--the Guardians and Tron virtual queues can "sell out" quickly, so use two phones--one to get your virtual queue and one to display the official US time (time.gov). I actually do not suggest this given how the app has been the past year. If the app is working well right at 7am with using time.gov is how I get BG1. If the app has a lag it will get you 50-60 usually. If the app is hosed then good luck  I'm really not joking either. The app has been fickle for me off and on with this past trip being the absolute worse. Trying at 10 seconds early could cause a timing issue. Better to do right at 7 am and hope your app refreshes in a hair of a second vs 2 that it can do. Mornings usually get booked in under 5 seconds. Sometimes less than 2. the 1pm drop is usually longer - sometimes never closes depending on the day. |
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Post by johnb on Jun 22, 2024 11:41:24 GMT -5
I've seen it suggested that you begin refreshing the "join virtual queue" screen about ten seconds prior to 7 AM. To the OP--the Guardians and Tron virtual queues can "sell out" quickly, so use two phones--one to get your virtual queue and one to display the official US time (time.gov). I actually do not suggest this given how the app has been the past year. If the app is working well right at 7am with using time.gov is how I get BG1. If the app has a lag it will get you 50-60 usually. If the app is hosed then good luck  I'm really not joking either. The app has been fickle for me off and on with this past trip being the absolute worse. Trying at 10 seconds early could cause a timing issue. Better to do right at 7 am and hope your app refreshes in a hair of a second vs 2 that it can do. Mornings usually get booked in under 5 seconds. Sometimes less than 2. the 1pm drop is usually longer - sometimes never closes depending on the day. Is it MDE or WDW's slow Wifi? I guess there's no way of knowing. We've had ridiculously slow wifi connections at the BW, resulting in late-ish boarding groups. Our best virtual queue results have been from home at 7 AM on our departure day, then using the VQ (this applies to Guardians only) late afternoon when we get to Epcot. |
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Post by jedimom3 on Jun 22, 2024 11:54:26 GMT -5
I'd also recommend devoting some time to becoming very familiar with the app. Make sure all your info is there, logged in, everything linked, all family/friends on the list, etc. and just where things are, so if you do try to get VQs and/or ILLs, you're not searching for it all at the last minute.
As far as VQs: DH seems to have the best luck w his Android. I have no idea if the phone type makes a difference. It's probably me being a split second late, but I tend to get later VQ groups when I do it with my phone, but when DH does it, we often get BG 1 or 5 or similar.
Also, I did had the extremely disappointing experience this last trip of not getting a Tron BG at 7AM,.That day turned into was a complete PITA to get a Tron ride. DIdn't opt to buy the ILL, so on a very hot, crowded day, made our way to MK, to make sure we were in the park, did manage a 1PM BG, none of us wanted to be in the park, so left, but when BG called about 3-4 hrs later, made our way back, and stood in an outdoor queue for over 1 hour , in the sun.
As the day goes on, the queues for both Tron and GotG get backed up. The next morning, for our very early Tron BG, walked right on, and on/off 15 mins. Same goes for Guardians for the queue to be very short in the AM, but backed up later in the day.
I have bought ILLs for GotG, just to get extra rides, and to control the time the ride will happen. No idea when they sold out, but on spring break, had a good number of options when I looked in the AM. Have also bought for FoP. I think they were worth it on busy/limited park time days.
I've never used Genie+, and hope not to, but I do think it could be a help especially if someone had a limited time in Disney and don't go often. The trip where I only had a 2 day tickets, Genie+ would've been beneficial, to at least get some rides guaranteed, esp at HS. We do rope drop, but at HS, you have to pick your side, and by the time you're done with that, like ToT, something like Rise already has a long line.
If there are extended evening hours, those were fabulous for getting lots done, and not nearly as hot.
it would probably be a good idea, to spend some time looking over new rides, discussing what are must-dos, what might be skipped, etc.
It's a lot of change for sure. While August will be dreadfully hot, hopefully the crowds will be less.
Best wishes with the planning and for a great trip!!
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Post by johnb on Jun 22, 2024 12:24:43 GMT -5
I'd also recommend devoting some time to becoming very familiar with the app. Make sure all your info is there, logged in, everything linked, all family/friends on the list, etc. and just where things are, so if you do try to get VQs and/or ILLs, you're not searching for it all at the last minute. As far as VQs: DH seems to have the best luck w his Android. I have no idea if the phone type makes a difference. It's probably me being a split second late, but I tend to get later VQ groups when I do it with my phone, but when DH does it, we often get BG 1 or 5 or similar. Also, I did had the extremely disappointing experience this last trip of not getting a Tron BG at 7AM,.That day turned into was a complete PITA to get a Tron ride. DIdn't opt to buy the ILL, so on a very hot, crowded day, made our way to MK, to make sure we were in the park, did manage a 1PM BG, none of us wanted to be in the park, so left, but when BG called about 3-4 hrs later, made our way back, and stood in an outdoor queue for over 1 hour , in the sun. As the day goes on, the queues for both Tron and GotG get backed up. The next morning, for our very early Tron BG, walked right on, and on/off 15 mins. Same goes for Guardians for the queue to be very short in the AM, but backed up later in the day. I have bought ILLs for GotG, just to get extra rides, and to control the time the ride will happen. No idea when they sold out, but on spring break, had a good number of options when I looked in the AM. Have also bought for FoP. I think they were worth it on busy/limited park time days. I've never used Genie+, and hope not to, but I do think it could be a help especially if someone had a limited time in Disney and don't go often. The trip where I only had a 2 day tickets, Genie+ would've been beneficial, to at least get some rides guaranteed, esp at HS. We do rope drop, but at HS, you have to pick your side, and by the time you're done with that, like ToT, something like Rise already has a long line. If there are extended evening hours, those were fabulous for getting lots done, and not nearly as hot. it would probably be a good idea, to spend some time looking over new rides, discussing what are must-dos, what might be skipped, etc. It's a lot of change for sure. While August will be dreadfully hot, hopefully the crowds will be less. Best wishes with the planning and for a great trip!! Excellent advice. We usually plan our first 2-3 rides then decide what's next based upon wait times. Our "must do" ride(s) will either be in that group of first 2-3 rides or an ILL. |
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Post by helenabear on Jun 22, 2024 12:30:23 GMT -5
I actually do not suggest this given how the app has been the past year. If the app is working well right at 7am with using time.gov is how I get BG1. If the app has a lag it will get you 50-60 usually. If the app is hosed then good luck I'm really not joking either. The app has been fickle for me off and on with this past trip being the absolute worse. Trying at 10 seconds early could cause a timing issue. Better to do right at 7 am and hope your app refreshes in a hair of a second vs 2 that it can do. Mornings usually get booked in under 5 seconds. Sometimes less than 2. the 1pm drop is usually longer - sometimes never closes depending on the day. Is it MDE or WDW's slow Wifi? I guess there's no way of knowing. We've had ridiculously slow wifi connections at the BW, resulting in late-ish boarding groups. Our best virtual queue results have been from home at 7 AM on our departure day, then using the VQ (this applies to Guardians only) late afternoon when we get to Epcot. If you run speed tests you should have a clue what it could be. Disney wifi is bunk, never use it for this if you can. Lately, it's been MDE being the issue for me. If my app crashes and then every page is uber slow to load then I know it's the app being buggy. Every once in a while you get a "something went wrong" which is a different type of error. I never use wifi at WDW for my phone. I always use my cellular data. 5G is strong there and getting regularly 500+Mbps. It was kind of frustrating this past trip. One of the days MDE wasn't even showing any wait times for MK at all. People were hot about it because they couldn't easily figure out which LL to use for G+ it was bad. That was one of the slow days for MDE as a whole. Didn't help that Tron went down many hours. I'd also recommend devoting some time to becoming very familiar with the app. Make sure all your info is there, logged in, everything linked, all family/friends on the list, etc. and just where things are, so if you do try to get VQs and/or ILLs, you're not searching for it all at the last minute. As far as VQs: DH seems to have the best luck w his Android. I have no idea if the phone type makes a difference. It's probably me being a split second late, but I tend to get later VQ groups when I do it with my phone, but when DH does it, we often get BG 1 or 5 or similar. DH used an iPhone for work. Android did beat it every single time. Even me using it. DH has no clue how I'm so fast most of the time. |
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Post by brp on Jun 22, 2024 12:31:26 GMT -5
I'd also recommend devoting some time to becoming very familiar with the app. Make sure all your info is there, logged in, everything linked, all family/friends on the list, etc. and just where things are, so if you do try to get VQs and/or ILLs, you're not searching for it all at the last minute. As far as VQs: DH seems to have the best luck w his Android. I have no idea if the phone type makes a difference. It's probably me being a split second late, but I tend to get later VQ groups when I do it with my phone, but when DH does it, we often get BG 1 or 5 or similar. Also, I did had the extremely disappointing experience this last trip of not getting a Tron BG at 7AM,.That day turned into was a complete PITA to get a Tron ride. DIdn't opt to buy the ILL, so on a very hot, crowded day, made our way to MK, to make sure we were in the park, did manage a 1PM BG, none of us wanted to be in the park, so left, but when BG called about 3-4 hrs later, made our way back, and stood in an outdoor queue for over 1 hour , in the sun. As the day goes on, the queues for both Tron and GotG get backed up. The next morning, for our very early Tron BG, walked right on, and on/off 15 mins. Same goes for Guardians for the queue to be very short in the AM, but backed up later in the day. I have bought ILLs for GotG, just to get extra rides, and to control the time the ride will happen. No idea when they sold out, but on spring break, had a good number of options when I looked in the AM. Have also bought for FoP. I think they were worth it on busy/limited park time days. I've never used Genie+, and hope not to, but I do think it could be a help especially if someone had a limited time in Disney and don't go often. The trip where I only had a 2 day tickets, Genie+ would've been beneficial, to at least get some rides guaranteed, esp at HS. We do rope drop, but at HS, you have to pick your side, and by the time you're done with that, like ToT, something like Rise already has a long line. If there are extended evening hours, those were fabulous for getting lots done, and not nearly as hot. it would probably be a good idea, to spend some time looking over new rides, discussing what are must-dos, what might be skipped, etc. It's a lot of change for sure. While August will be dreadfully hot, hopefully the crowds will be less. Best wishes with the planning and for a great trip!! Excellent advice. We usually plan our first 2-3 rides then decide what's next based upon wait times. Our "must do" ride(s) will either be in that group of first 2-3 rides or an ILL. We have the same "must do" rides at every park, every time. Then we just decide if we're going to rope drop and go for them or go later do do our tier 2 rides. So, the only planning is when we want to get up. This is based on when we went to bed (we're early-to-bed folks unless a part has late ours) and whether we're going to run.
Epcot is our default park and we're always OK with a later arrival as we can usually find a 20-25 minutes Soarin' line much of the time and single rider on TT is rarely long. Then we can chill.
Cheers.
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Post by johnb on Jun 22, 2024 14:06:06 GMT -5
Excellent advice. We usually plan our first 2-3 rides then decide what's next based upon wait times. Our "must do" ride(s) will either be in that group of first 2-3 rides or an ILL. We have the same "must do" rides at every park, every time. Then we just decide if we're going to rope drop and go for them or go later do do our tier 2 rides. So, the only planning is when we want to get up. This is based on when we went to bed (we're early-to-bed folks unless a part has late ours) and whether we're going to run.
Epcot is our default park and we're always OK with a later arrival as we can usually find a 20-25 minutes Soarin' line much of the time and single rider on TT is rarely long. Then we can chill.
Cheers.
We were talking this morning about Epcot and switching things up since TT is closed. We (almost) always rope drop from the IG and go to Soarin', swimming upstream vs. everyone from the main entrance headed to ratatouille. The Land is pretty empty at 8:30 AM. I think for August we'll do Ratatouille first then head to The Land. I think most rope droppers at Epcot are doing some combination of TT/Frozen/Rat to start their morning. With TT down, I'm curious to see how that affects the early AM Soarin' wait. |
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Post by brp on Jun 22, 2024 14:26:32 GMT -5
We have the same "must do" rides at every park, every time. Then we just decide if we're going to rope drop and go for them or go later do do our tier 2 rides. So, the only planning is when we want to get up. This is based on when we went to bed (we're early-to-bed folks unless a part has late ours) and whether we're going to run.
Epcot is our default park and we're always OK with a later arrival as we can usually find a 20-25 minutes Soarin' line much of the time and single rider on TT is rarely long. Then we can chill.
Cheers.
We were talking this morning about Epcot and switching things up since TT is closed. We (almost) always rope drop from the IG and go to Soarin', swimming upstream vs. everyone from the main entrance headed to ratatouille. The Land is pretty empty at 8:30 AM. I think for August we'll do Ratatouille first then head to The Land. I think most rope droppers at Epcot are doing some combination of TT/Frozen/Rat to start their morning. With TT down, I'm curious to see how that affects the early AM Soarin' wait. We didn't care for Rat enough to make it a priority. A bit too shake-and-bake. Maybe we need give it another try. I hadn't followed that TT was down for the retheme now. We are back in October, but looks like it will still be closed. Even May, 2025 is in jeopardy. C'est la vie.
Cheers.
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Post by helenabear on Jun 22, 2024 15:09:12 GMT -5
We were talking this morning about Epcot and switching things up since TT is closed. We (almost) always rope drop from the IG and go to Soarin', swimming upstream vs. everyone from the main entrance headed to ratatouille. The Land is pretty empty at 8:30 AM. I think for August we'll do Ratatouille first then head to The Land. I think most rope droppers at Epcot are doing some combination of TT/Frozen/Rat to start their morning. With TT down, I'm curious to see how that affects the early AM Soarin' wait. We didn't care for Rat enough to make it a priority. A bit too shake-and-bake. Maybe we need give it another try. I hadn't followed that TT was down for the retheme now. We are back in October, but looks like it will still be closed. Even May, 2025 is in jeopardy. C'est la vie.
Cheers. Last redo was under a year but unsure about this one. Disney seems to be taking longer and longer. |
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Post by Hi from RI on Jun 22, 2024 15:18:28 GMT -5
Agree with above...look over the app and it will help you understand how Genie works for rides......we have used it to avoid wait times but not every visit but will not wait in line long and just go on next trip. Rope drop good but waited 45 minutes even so for Slingy.......
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Post by johnb on Jun 22, 2024 16:35:49 GMT -5
Agree with above...look over the app and it will help you understand how Genie works for rides......we have used it to avoid wait times but not every visit but will not wait in line long and just go on next trip. Rope drop good but waited 45 minutes even so for Slingy....... This is why we don't rope drop Slinky. Everyone rushes to Slinky or Rise. We use G+ in DHS. We get LL for Slinky at 7 AM. With the early entry, we usually do MMRR, TSM, Slinky, MFSR (this is always hit or miss--sometimes the wait is 10 minutes and sometimes it's 40), ToT and sometimes Muppets or Star Tours before lunch. |
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I'm really not joking either. The app has been fickle for me off and on with this past trip being the absolute worse. Trying at 10 seconds early could cause a timing issue. Better to do right at 7 am and hope your app refreshes in a hair of a second vs 2 that it can do. 
