Things We Will and Won't Do at Disney 2024
We're back from our holiday hiatus, and rounding up our latest lessons learned and resolutions for the new year. Here's what we will and wont' do at Disney in 2024.
We Will....
Hold our insulated metal water bottle in front of us when passing through security.
I like to use an insulated metal water bottle in the parks because it keeps my drink colder longer. It used to be that I would get pulled over for a manual bag search 50% of the time. On my last trip, I started holding the water bottle out in front of me when going through the metal detectors, and the only time I got stopped at bag search was the one time I forgot to do that and had my bottle in the bag.
So the take-away is, if you have a metal water bottle, hold it out in front of you when going through the metal detectors.
Keep using (and knowing how to use) Genie+
I feel like Genie+ gets a bad rep just because something that used to be free (the fast line that bypasses most guests) is no longer free. But I find the $20 per guest per day (on average) is worth it in terms of time saved and anxiety saved. For me, it's about how I choose to spend my time at Disney, and for most queues as little time as possible standing around in them in preferred when I could be doing other things in the park. And I've found in most parks, Genie+ saves me time, even in Animal Kingdom where it has saved each person in my party at least an hour overall of waiting over the standby line. For me, an hour of my time, especially when spent out in the parks doing other things, is worth it, and I often save much more than an hour.
Image- Tron: Lightcycle Run, will be one of the most coveted rides at Disney World in 2024.
Grab the Lightning Lane we want even if the return time seems too early.
With the new ability to modify Lightning Lanes, I've found that if there's a coveted ride you want to ride before the end of the day, but the return times are just coming back too early when your window opens and you have nothing else you need to book, book the coveted ride for the bad return time. This will allow you to do two things:
Use the Modify feature to push that time back later, provided there's availability.
Keep your original booking time as the time from which the 120-minute rule clock* starts ticking to book another Lightning Lane.
*What's the 120-minute rule? It states that if 120 minutes have passed from the time you booked your Lightning Lane (or park opening if you booked before park opening), and you have not used your Lightning Lane (thereby opening up a window to book another), you can book another after the 120-minute time has passed, even if you still hold the first Lightning Lane.
Use the Refresh button if the Lightning Lane return time I am served first is too late.
Here's a secret: People cancel Lightning Lanes. This happens most at the beginning of the day when everyone is trying to grab their first rides. If the return time you are served when you first look at what's available is too late or conflicts with something, it pays to refresh the screen and see if a new earlier return time shows up.
We used this twice on our last trip, with Slinky Dog Dash and with Avatar: Flight of Passage. With Slinky Dog Dash, nothing earlier showed up. But with Avatar: Flight of Passage, the first return time we were served was 7 PM, conflicting with an ADR we had. We refreshed, and got a return time closer to 4 PM.
With refreshing, unlike "modifying", you really are relying on luck. Specifically, you're relying on either a guest having canceled their time slot by the time you refresh OR the ride somehow recalculating capacity. So there is risk. You might be served an even later time, after all. But if the late time you're given absolutely won't work, it's worth a try to refresh and see if you get served something earlier.
Image- One of the Walt Disney World skyliner stations
Stay at a Skyliner Resort
We sometimes have an ECV user in our party, and don't get us started on what it's like using the bus system with an ECV. The monorail is also accessible, but last time I was on it, it smelled like a zoo and was parked like sardines. The skyliner, to me, is smooth, quiet, and beautifully accessible. Frankly, that and the boats are the only Disney transportation options I truly enjoy riding anymore.
Use Mobile Order and Mobile Merchandise Check-Out
How much do I love being able to snack and shop without having to stand in line or barely having to talk to someone? A LOT.
Mobile order is slick and saves you so much time standing in line. Every time I used it on my last trip, my food was ready within 5-minutes, and I'm sure people were standing in lines just to order for far longer than that. What I often do is find a table, sit down, place my order, and click "I'm here" right away, though you can place an order at a quick-service from anywhere in the park and click "I'm here" when you arrive if you like to plan ahead. For me, it wasn't about planning ahead. It was about sitting down and not standing in line.
Mobile merchandise check-out is also great. It's not as widely used as mobile order for food yet, but at stores that use it, you scan the QR code on one of the mobile check-out signs located prominently around the store. Then you scan your items by barcode. Pay through the app, and the app will give you a confirmation screen. Then, on the way out, just stop by the Cast Member standing at the door and show them the confirmation screen. Easy-peasy and no time standing in line at the check-out counters at all.
We Won't...
Worry about people behaving badly.
The videos that you sometimes see on YouTube with people brawling by the parking lot tram are not commonplace occurrences. Not that I don't believe they happen, but in the times I've been at Disney in the past several years, I've mostly seen happy guests. Sometimes guests are utterly oblivious of others by the way they walk abreast on narrow pathways or block doors or water fountains, but outright combative? No. THAT, I haven't seen, even if I want to roll my eyes at the guests who are oblivious of others.
So remember, the videos of guests brawling at the parking lot tram, or getting into a fistfight while in line for Small World are viral videos for a reason: Because they are rare and therefore shocking. Most guests are just there to have a wholesome good time, and more often than night, a guest makes me smile instead of making me mad.
Image - Te-Fiti in Moana: Journey of Water. The sun shines on her in the morning.
Rope Drop or Die
Rope Drop can be important. And being at the park when or close to when it opens IS important because crowds are lightest earliest in the day, and the weather is most pleasant too. But to actually rope drop the ride everyone else is there to rope drop rarely works out in my favor, especially if I'm using Genie+ and double-especially if I am willing to purchase Individual Lightning Lanes.
Over time, we've cooled on rope-dropping because of this. We now see it as mainly a way to save the purchase cost of an Individual Lightning Lane, but with that way comes moving with the largest crowd first thing in the morning, and quite often requires a sprint through the entire park to the very back of it. On our last trip, we didn't rope drop and found park opening to be a very pleasant time to explore the park's ambiance and perhaps lesser known attractions. For example, at EPCOT, we did Moana: Journey of Water first thing in the morning (it was practically empty and lovely), and then rode Living With the Land (walked right on).
There are a few times Rope Drop can be worth it:
You're entering EPCOT via International Gateway and want to ride Remy. I mean, it's right there. Go for it.
You want to ride a ride that is an Individual Lightning Lane twice. You can only have one Individual Lightning lane per ride per day, so this would be the only way to do that.
Require Park Hopping
Park hopping is great, especially now that the old rules are back. But if you're looking to save a little money and not buy the add-on to your ticket, one park a day is just fine. In fact, on my last trip, when we did one park a day, I learned some of the joys of doing one park a day. If it rains, for example, no big deal, you have all day. You can keep checking back on that ride you want to ride and wait for the line to go down, you have all day. It feels like you have more time to explore a park as well. Most parks, we did a lot less back-tracking than I normally do and just worked our way through the lands over the course of the day. And that midday break can still be taken. You can leave and re-enter the same park.
Do a lot of Table Service
Yes, we do want to try all the new restaurants. And we do have favorites that are very special to us. But we're learning we're never as hungry at Disney as we think we'll be. And the park snacks and quick service tends to be very good.
For a trip of 8 days, I'm hoping we can keep it to 2-4 Table Service meals total.
Bring a ton of snacks.
Even if I'm on a keto diet and have anxiety about finding keto-friendly things, the truth is, I always have, and I'm never hungry enough to eat all my snacks. Last time I brought 1/4 of a carry-on full of things, and I came back with 1/4 of a carry-on full of things. No more.
What are your Disney do's and don'ts for 2024? Come on over to our Facebook page and comment on this week's post to join the conversation. You can also follow us to see when new articles are posted each week. Until next time...
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