When it comes to Disney, especially with a trip on the cards, there is little I like to do more than to think about scenarios that may or may not happen that will have hardly any impact on my life in the long term. Things like not getting specific ADRs or the parks being too busy or that those FOMO perks that Disney gives to on-site guests will make our off-site trip a disaster. It’s all part of the fun. For example, it seems off-site scum can only start to book their Genie+ Lightning Lanes from park opening, not 7am like the honoured on-site types. A bit petty Disney if you ask me. If you’re going to do this, then you need to come up with some affordable accommodation options for larger parties.
The only thing I enjoy more is whinging about Genie+ but I guess I’m not alone there.
Another fun part of this countdown process is to make completely unsubstantiated guesses based on zero knowledge about what Disney may or may not do in the future.
Take for example….
Soon, in Summer 2024, the new version of Splash Mountain will open. Tiana’s ride (not the official title) will be welcome for a couple of reasons.
- Having such a major ride down for so long just means there are fewer things to spread the people around and all the other attractions get busier. (This is the entire issue with Hollywood Studios right now. Not enough things for too many people to do, but that’s a whole other blog post.)
- It may draw some folks away from the likes of Seven Dwarves at rope drop and give other folks a fairer chance to ride it without paying extra or waiting for 90 minutes.
Emily and I were pondering if Tiana’s ride would be added to the list of individual lightning lane attractions in Magic Kingdom. There is much to think about.
It seems that MK is currently the only park with more than one such attraction…
Epcot – Guardians
Hollywood Studios – Rise of the Resistance
Animal Kingdom – Flights of Passage
Magic Kingdom – Tron and Seven Dwarves
So adding a third would be bordering on a piss take in my view. The options seem to be to take that piss and add a third which would be punitive and very unpopular, leave Tiana’s ride as Splash was, as part of the (still paid for and shite) Genie+ service, or add it to the Individual LL list and drop one of the others.
Personally, I think they will leave Tiana as Splash was. If they were to make it one of the two, then which of the existing ones would they drop?
Tron is too new surely and Seven Dwarves is one of the most popular and slowest loading rides on property, so that could just be carnage.
As ever, this thought process will be a complete waste of time because the last time I correctly predicted what Disney would do next I had a fringe.
I’d be interested in your views of course.
Speaking of change and new rides. Due to some clickbait-style headline writing by some other Disney-related blog (not that you read any others of course), there were a couple of minutes late last week when it seemed like Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin was going to be replaced by a Wreck-It Ralph attraction. A quick scan of the article once they had my very valuable click, confirmed that this was in Tokyo. Let’s hope that nonsense idea never darkens Florida’s door.
The other thing I have done in the last few days is begin to firm up some dining plans. We are months from ADR booking but I did try out the new system where you can put in a range of dates for a restaurant and see all the ADRs available. That is excellent!
My strategy for our eating on this trip is to focus on off-site places as much as possible with just a smattering of on-site ADRs. Sure, cost is a consideration. Feeding six folks multiple times a day on property is a pricey hobby, but we also love a lot of off-site places.
So I am adding an eatery of choice for each day and if it so happens that on one of those days we don’t want to leave the parks or that doesn’t fit with our plans, we will just try to find somewhere there and then via the app. We do want to try and get ADRs for a few such as Garden Grill, Rodeo Roundup, Space 220 (yeah right) and probably one character meal.
On that note, has anyone done BR77 Steakhouse on the 192. It’s a Brazillian Steakhouse type place it seems and I was thinking of giving it a try. Other than that, our list is the usual suspects.
All of this theme park talk ignores the fact that we are now just four weeks away from our absolutely no theme park trip at the end of May, to Delray Beach. When we called in to see my Mum last week she asked if we had the cases out yet. Even for me, five weeks out was a bit early, but it won’t be long.
The only prep required now for that one is to get some bloody weight off. My “Fat Elvis” period has been dragging on for a while now and it seems these days the only thing that can motivate me to get some lard off is a trip overseas. Let’s see how that goes over the coming weeks. The hardest part for me is starting. Once I begin to see any sort of result, I can stick at it, but as the years go by, it just becomes harder and harder to get the ball rolling.
If only everything in life were as easy as getting fat.
Till the next time…..
Mkingdon's Blog 
I know nothing of Genie+, apart from you have to pay and do something at 7am.
I do not know what a lightning lane is.
I hope it’s all gone by the next time we go, whenever that will be.
bring back fast pass and the rope drop Dad run to Toy Story Mania 😀
Is Mustard still a group and are you still playing?
Yes Wendy I still Mustard 😁
I am not a clairvoyant either but I think they will drop Dwarves and add on Tiana’s for a while. We have the pleasure of navigating the DAS changes and hubby will have to interview to see if he is still eligible, whatever that is anymore.
Either way we will see what happens and ride less and less otherwise. I see a lot of rope drops in our future then leaving the park early.
we like off site too, Bahama Breeze never dissapoints.