Pre-trip planning

[marcais]

So everything is confirmed for our August trip. Off-site accommodation is confirmed. 14-day magic tickets are bought. Park reservations are made. Everything is linked through MDE on my phone. Genie+ has been purchased for specific days.

Is there anything else I need to do before we go? Or is that us until 7am on our first day in the park?

 

[The_Banking_Scot]

Hi, I would probably check on phone roaming charges in the USA if applicable and wifi not available
Also consider any ESTAS for travel ( currently need a test to travel to the USA but hopefully this will be removed prior to August)

 

[disneyholic family]

i have no idea. I'm at the same stage as you and so flustered by the entire experience so far.
Lots of stress. But the phone suggestion is excellent. I need to check that.
Last time we were there, even though we had a roaming contract on our phone, we had a lot of trouble connecting to the disney app.
We kept getting that dreaded circle of death.
I hope it's better this time around.

 

[marcais]

ESTAs are sorted.

I've found that even when I have roaming included in my deal on my UK phone, when I go to the US (or anywhere not UK) I get awful connectivity to their networks. Like there's a crap network that they keep just for people who are roaming.

I was toying with the idea of getting a PAYG US sim this time. I'm in the US for 5 days before we hit a Disney park and MDE is pretty much the only thing I'll need a phone for over there, and by the sounds of it I'll need to have a good connection for the whole time I'm in the park because everything's done through the app now.

 

[Plague]

a PAYG US sim

On a very quick google an AT&T or T-Mobile one (with 30GB or more data) is in the order of $70. (There are probably cheaper deals.) In the context of a multi-£k holiday it's not a lot, so given the current reported flakiness of UK mobiles it might be worth getting one, if only as back-up.

To some extent it's going to be the hassle as unless you have a dual-SIM phone you probably won't want to be swapping SIMs in a park or on transport. If you don't need continuous contact with your mothership then just using the US SIM all the time would probably be fine.
(My domestic contact is normally e-mail because of the time difference, so if people are still having problems with UK roaming connectivity when I go I will likely get a US SIM and swap mid-Atlantic.)

 

[disneyholic family]

On a very quick google an AT&T or T-Mobile one (with 30GB or more data) is in the order of $70. (There are probably cheaper deals.) In the context of a multi-£k holiday it's not a lot, so given the current reported flakiness of UK mobiles it might be worth getting one, if only as back-up.

To some extent it's going to be the hassle as unless you have a dual-SIM phone you probably won't want to be swapping SIMs in a park or on transport. If you don't need continuous contact with your mothership then just using the US SIM all the time would probably be fine.
(My domestic contact is normally e-mail because of the time difference, so if people are still having problems with UK roaming connectivity when I go I will likely get a US SIM and swap mid-Atlantic.)

the question is how much is 30GB in the context of what we need to do with MDE.
I really don't know.
Last time i was in the states, i was in the detroit area for over a month (in sept/oct 2019).
I bought a device for data support from T-Mobile. It wasn't too bad - maybe around $80, but it didn't last long at all. Waze used it up really fast.
.

 

[Plague]

the question is how much is 30GB in the context of what we need to do with MDE.
I really don't know.

If you use it all the time instead of WiFi then you may gobble it up. But I'd use Disney WiFi by default and only switch to the network* if it was being difficult.

* Most phones use WiFi priority, so if you click the WiFi off it will fall back to network automatically, and come back when you turn it on again.

Waze does seem to be a resource hog though: "Another complaint that users have against Waze is the amount of battery power and data resources it consumes. The app is still reporting data to Waze even when it’s not navigating."

 

[marcais]

My anticipation for this trip just gets lower and lower.

I was only planning to use G+ for the days at MK & HS, and now they've announced that they may limit the G+ tickets sold each day. So now I have to be up at 00:01 on those days, and then up and online by 07:00 to use it? Well, that's sure to leave me feeling refreshed for a day at the parks, then.

And then, because I'm offsite, I have to wait until park open to find out if there are any ILLs left for me to buy that day?

 

[Plague]

now they've announced that they may limit the G+ tickets sold each day.

In post #1 you said you've already bought your G+.

 

[MichelinMan]

I am so glad we pre-purchased our Genie+ now. Worrying about whether we can get that purchased on the day, then trying all the other stuff you have to do (LL and ILL), just takes all the fun out of the trip.

Are Disney deliberately trying to suck all the enjoyment out of trips?

I am looking forward to the Universal leg of our trip so much more now. Express Pass me up - bliss!

 

[marcais]

In post #1 you said you've already bought your G+.

I didn't really understand what G+ was back then. I guess it's true that ignorance is bliss.

 

[Plague]

I didn't really understand what G+ was back then. I guess it's true that ignorance is bliss.

But have you already bought it or not?
If you have then it's locked in and changes, like just announced from early June, won't affect you. But if you are staying off-site then I don't think you get the 7am option anyway and it'll be in park only.
If you haven't got it already you either need to get it soon before the changes come in, or just buy daily, which will again probably be when you get to the park rather than 00:01.

 

[marcais]

OK. So it turns out I STILL don't understand G+, despite having read a fair bit about it.

I don't think I can add it for specific days for our trip, but rather I'd have to buy it for every day, which I don't want to do because there's lots of days we won't use it which makes it more expensive that way, despite the per day price being lower.

As for having to be online at 07:00 to book, this is what it says in the Everything Genie+ thread:

- Guests at Disney resorts and guests not staying at Disney resorts can make their first Genie+ LL booking at 7:00 am.

- All guests (onsite and offsite) are eligible to book their first LL at 7:00 am. This can be done from any location, as long as you have a park reservation and park ticket for the day.

The onsite people can book the Individual Lightning Lane passes from 07:00 and the offsite people have to wait until the park opens, but G+ bookings are available for both at 07:00.

So, as they are limiting how many G+ they are selling for each park each day, I will need to be online at midnight to buy G+ or risk missing out on getting G+ for the park. My plan before they made this announcement was to be up and online to buy G+ at 06:45, but I could be asleep earlier the night before so could still be well rested.

 

[marcais]

I might just go ahead and book it for the whole trip anyway. It's more expensive, but it saves a lot of kerfuffle. It just leaves a sour taste in my mouth as it feels like I'm being railroaded into the more expensive option, despite me still being unsure whether it's really worth laying out the money for it.

 

[Plague]

The onsite people can book the Individual Lightning Lane passes from 07:00 and the offsite people have to wait until the park opens,

Oh, right. I was confusing the LLs and ILLs. Doh.

it feels like I'm being railroaded into the more expensive option

Of course. There are plenty of examples in the Disney moneyverse.

I don't think I can add it for specific days for our trip, but rather I'd have to buy it for every day,

That's right. But AIUI on the current rules if you wanted to add it during your stay you had to buy it for the time of your (eg) 14 day ticket, even if you were part way through. If that's right then the change to being able to buy individual days as needed is actually a big improvement, though obviously that assumes they haven't sold out.

I think G+ has been too popular and they have to limit the numbers so that those who do buy it have enough opportunities to use it.

 

[marcais]

I've bought G+ for the whole trip. I feel slightly better about things with that sorted.

But then I told my son this morning that Blizzard Beach is unlikely to be open when we go. He was not a happy chappie when I dropped him off at school.

 

[MichelinMan]

I've bought G+ for the whole trip. I feel slightly better about things with that sorted.

But then I told my son this morning that Blizzard Beach is unlikely to be open when we go. He was not a happy chappie when I dropped him off at school.

Yeah, we are miffed that Blizzard Beach looks like it might be closed when we go too - we didn't manage to do it last visit, so were looking forward to that.

 

[disneyholic family]

i just saw the announcement about genie+.
I'm so happy i added it to the 14 day ultimates back when i purchased them a few months ago.
It was expensive for us, given that we're a group of 9, but i figured i may as well add it just in case as i wouldn't want to have to worry about another thing the day of.
i'm hoping they actually do limit the number sold, but i feel sorry for anyone who get's closed out after all the trouble and expense of being there.