Planning a trip, haven't been since 2016:

Wife and I decided that it's been too long since we last went to Disney, so we're aiming for a Feb visit. I know we're in for a hefty bit of sticker shock when we see the total price, given it's been 6 years since our last visit.

In the past we've always booked directly with Disney... but I'm considering Magical Journeys... anything I should consider other than that? Everyone on the podcast has always been positive about them, but they're a sponsor after all.

Thought on the dining plans: Are they worth it? I kind of feel that any "deal" Disney gives works out in their favour, not ours. We generally do quick-service breakfast and lunch, and a proper sit-down for supper.

Any other big changes in the experience we should be aware of?

Also, in a moment of foolishness we asked my 21 year old son if he wanted to go, figuring the answer would be "no, vacation with my parents... ew" but he was all into the idea. LOL It's bound to be fun, he hasn't been since he was 6.

***First off, Magical Journeys is wonderful for booking vacations! Once you have booked with them, they will continue to stay on top of any discounts or offers that may apply to your trip dates and let you know about them...and update your reservation accordingly.***

As far as 'dining plans' are concerned: There are currently no dining plans available. Maybe they will come back, maybe not. You will need to book all of your 'sit down' (table service) reservations starting at the 60-day point pre-trip. A lot of the 'quick service' places strongly suggest using Mobile Order through the app on your phone. (If you do not have the app currently installed on your phone, do it NOW!!)

Big changes in the experience:

Park Reservations: You must reserve which park you wish to visit to start your day. If you have Park Hopper tickets, you do not have to reserve your second more park(s) for the day. If Park Hopping, you can only enter a second park after 2:00pm and must have visited your 'reserved' park first.

Genie+/Individual Lightning Lanes/Virtual Queues are the biggest.

Currently there is only one 'Virtual Queue' and that is for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT. You have to be signed in to the app PRIOR to 7:00am, get to the location to enter the Virtual Queue and continue refreshing the app from 6:58am until you either get in or are told that the queue is full. There is a second Virtual Queue window that opens at 1:00pm, but you MUST be inside EPCOT to try for that queue.

Genie+ can be purchased on a day-to-day basis just after midnight on the day you want to use it. Cost per day are constantly in flux of late. It started at $15/day and I just saw the current price is (was?) $29/day. This must be purchased by every member of your party wanting to use the service. Genie+ is available for ANY park(s) you visit on the day you purchased it for.

Individual Lightning Lanes [ILL]: This is a 'special' situation for one or two specific attractions in each park. These are paid for by ride and vary in price. You are limited to two (2) ILL purchases per day, not per park, and you do NOT need to have first purchased Genie+ for that day. ILL attractions are NOT on the Genie+ list of available attractions.

Due to the way Genie+/ILL has been implemented, StandBy queues have become very long.

I hope this is not too confusing and helps you in planning accordingly.

Enjoy your trip!!!!

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Originally Posted by PopPhan

***First off, Magical Journeys is wonderful for booking vacations! Once you have booked with them, they will continue to stay on top of any discounts or offers that may apply to your trip dates and let you know about them...and update your reservation accordingly.***

As far as 'dining plans' are concerned: There are currently no dining plans available. Maybe they will come back, maybe not. You will need to book all of your 'sit down' (table service) reservations starting at the 60-day point pre-trip. A lot of the 'quick service' places strongly suggest using Mobile Order through the app on your phone. (If you do not have the app currently installed on your phone, do it NOW!!)

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Yeah, after I'd posted here we were sitting at the kitchen table looking at options and started noticing the lack of Dining Plan... times change. Not too concerned as they never fit our plans 100% anyways. All good.

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Big changes in the experience:

Park Reservations: You must reserve which park you wish to visit to start your day. If you have Park Hopper tickets, you do not have to reserve your second more park(s) for the day. If Park Hopping, you can only enter a second park after 2:00pm and must have visited your 'reserved' park first.

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Are these changes post-pandemic "crowd control" measures? And when do these choices have to be made? We don't usually pin down our plans so far out... sometimes the choice for the day just depends on the weather when we wake up.

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Genie+/Individual Lightning Lanes/Virtual Queues are the biggest.

Currently there is only one 'Virtual Queue' and that is for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT. You have to be signed in to the app PRIOR to 7:00am, get to the location to enter the Virtual Queue and continue refreshing the app from 6:58am until you either get in or are told that the queue is full. There is a second Virtual Queue window that opens at 1:00pm, but you MUST be inside EPCOT to try for that queue.

Genie+ can be purchased on a day-to-day basis just after midnight on the day you want to use it. Cost per day are constantly in flux of late. It started at $15/day and I just saw the current price is (was?) $29/day. This must be purchased by every member of your party wanting to use the service. Genie+ is available for ANY park(s) you visit on the day you purchased it for.

Individual Lightning Lanes [ILL]: This is a 'special' situation for one or two specific attractions in each park. These are paid for by ride and vary in price. You are limited to two (2) ILL purchases per day, not per park, and you do NOT need to have first purchased Genie+ for that day. ILL attractions are NOT on the Genie+ list of available attractions.

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I'm going to have to go see if there's a "Genie+/ILL/Virtual Queue" 101 video on Youtube or something. I miss the days of just FastPass...

Thanks for the info PopPhan.

As far as the Park Reservations point goes, I believe that 'Crowd Control' was the initial driving force.

With the number of people visiting since CoVID restrictions were lifted, some parks 'sell out' of reservations from time to time. It is best to make your reservations as quickly and early as possible so as not to be 'shut out' of a park on any particular day. You can check reservation availability here:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/av...egment=tickets

Hope this helps.