The line to get to the top of Everest NEVER moves.

Hell yeah, bro. I'm not going to try to hype it up too much, because I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. I would agree that some of the beaches on the Gulf Coast of Florida are as good as any in the world, though. Powder white sand, clear water, no rocks/shells to step on, no sharks, hardly ever any jellyfish or seaweed, no one trying to hock you shit on the beach, chill family vibes, no crime.

I actually went to a beach I'd never been to a couple weeks back named Belleair Beach not far from Clearwater. We saw some dolphins and a live Starfish (my first time). It was nice.

You should try the Everest ride at Disney World.

lol.. One of my favorites

It ain't the line to get to the top of Everest that is a killer. It's the line trying to get down as darkness/storms come that is a real killer.

On a positive note, the rides are amazing.Star Wars rise of the rebellion was an impressive experience, and the Guardians of the Galaxy coaster is the best roller coaster I've ever been on.

New TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom to be among Disney's fastest coasters

It's a new year, which means new attractions are racing into Walt Disney World, with one of the fastest coasters at any Disney theme park opening this spring.

TRON Lightcycle / Run will officially open April 4 in Magic Kingdom, inspired by the hit 2010 Disney film "TRON: Legacy"

The new attraction is set up to mimic the dazzling visual display from the movie's lightcycle battle and picks up with the main character Sam Flynn who has "opened a second gateway into a digital realm called the Grid," Disney Parks announced.

https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/tro...n_16x9_992.jpg

The first "portal" the character created is at Shanghai Disneyland with the original TRON Lightcycle Power Run, which opened there in 2016.

Upon entering the line at Magic Kingdom, guests will feel as if they have been digitized and are transported to "the Grid" for a special Lightcycle race.

Riders are on Team Blue vying against the Grid’s "menacing Programs," Team Orange. The goal is to race through eight Energy Gates first to secure victory.

https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/tro...n_16x9_992.jpg

According to Walt Disney World, this will be one of the fastest coasters at any Disney theme park in the world.

Ahead of the opening, cast members have been invited to enter the Grid during special previews. Annual Passholders and eligible Disney Vacation Club Members will eventually be granted early preview opportunities as well.

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Travel/ne...ry?id=96415156

I was at DW the week before Christmas. As much of a nightmare as that was, the Tron coaster was testing. I can say, it looked really fast. I'm disappointed that it wasn't opened, it's only a year and a half behind schedule. That being said, the new Guardians ride at Epcot is great, and easily the best ride in DW.

Disney World/Land sound like hell on earth anymore. Glad I got a chance to see it when I was little. Shan't be taking my kids.

ditto on all of it

Disney is the greatest test of patience know to man kind.

I was in line for small world. There was a kid jumping in between lines, just being a kid. No big deal to me.

I looked at mom-she had three and dad was not really helping. I smiled at her and the dead pan look of desperation on her face was priceless. I felt sorry for her. She was done.

Disney is not the happiest place on earth. If it was, everyone would have a smile on their faces. Rarely do you see people smiling.

People everywhere that thing they have the right of way.
Standing in line for 1.5 hours for a 2 minute ride.
Everything is over priced.
watching overweight people shove into a 3mm space so they can see the parade and hold the kids on their shoulders

Good times man. Good times.

Sucks that everyone has had such negative experiences.

The parks really are awesome when done "right". And by "right", I basically mean being local, 'cause **** spending $10k to bring your entire family to Orlando during the busiest and hottest times of the year.

If I can't go in September or February when it's cooler than usual and the lines are 10-20 minutes, I just don't go. It's nice to have that luxury. I know many people with kids in the area who just pop over for a few hours on a slow weekend and that's definitely the best way to do it.

If you happen to go, I definitely recommend going on the Guardians of the Galaxy ride at Epcot. I just went on it again this weekend and it’s arguably the best ride at any of the parks.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dvRFql4HTl0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Is Guru headed down for Gay Days at Disney again?

smells like freedom.

Yeah, if I ever spend $10k on a vacation, it'll be in a different country and not ****ing Orlando. LMAO



I mean.... kids are great though.

Haven’t been since before the pandemic. But I HIGHLY recommend the end of Jan/first of February. Perfect weather, not as packed as the summertime surely is. Need to start planning the next trip!!

We did an adults only trip back in 2018. Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. I had a great time. Granted, we weren't there for the rides (but we did ride our fair share using fast passes). The food was good. People watching was fun. Universal was awesome as well. We went in early March. Crowds weren't too bad at all. My advice to first timers is watch as many youtube videos on WDW trip planning as you can. They were extremely helpful. I'd definitely go again, just to see Star Wars Land/Batu which was under construction at the time. It was like going to Vegas for me...just stuff you can't see here in middle of nowhere KS.

that’s at least the 30th best beach in the area. :rolleyes:

That Belleair/Indian Rocks area is nice... wasn't crazy crowded like Clearwater (and that was freakin' January much less middle of the summer) and others. Spent a weekend on Marco Island, beach was really nice, but lucked out on a decently priced AirBnb out of all of the $1k/night hotel rooms. :eek: Siesta Key looked nice, but red tide was awful, between hacking up a lung and the dead fish.

Out of the SD/FL/SC beaches in the past several months though, I'd probably go back to a few beaches in SD* and SC before FL... quieter, less traffic/hassle getting there, not having massive rows of tents lining the beach, and better weather in terms of humidity levels not being insane.

*granted, SD also gets 'worst beach' on the list... Pacific Beach, with massive amounts of seaweed.

**** you

Just did 7 days/6 nights at Disney World last week and it was... awesome. Best family vacation we've taken since having kids. We went with the priority of limiting stress, so we paid for the bells and whistles (stayed at the Polynesian, took a Lyft rather than the bus when it was advantageous, did the Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes when necessary). As a result, it was quite expensive and now I'm dealing with that, but it was worth it.

The middle daughter and son-in-law along with our 3 grand kids are leaving today to move to a nice house in Orlando conveniently located 20 minutes from Disney World. They have been to Disney probably about 6 or so times over the last 2 years now it will be in their own back yard. :thumb:

Going next Spring for my daughter's band trip. We did the same thing at Disneyland last year where her school band went so we got a hotel close to the parks so we could walk over there, and when she got tired of her friends she could come meet up with us and ride rides together. It gave us our space to enjoy what we wanted, to relax, grab amazing breakfast, christen sheets, sleep in, can't wait for Disney World next year.

I wouldn't actively go to Disneyland, wasn't enough to do between two parks that are right across from one another, you could technically visit all of Disneyland in California if you wanted to in a day. With Disney World, all the fireworks shows, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom and especially Epcot along with waterparks and Disney Springs. Orlando blows the pants off Los Angeles anytime. Epcot alone, just love Epcot, visiting all the different countries, still getting to enjoy the rides, food and drink it feels like a worlds fair more so than an amusement park.

I’ve been very disappointed in Disney World recently which sucks because we generally love it. For one, Genie + absolutely sucks. It’s an inferior product to fast pass even though it costs money and fast pass was free. Eliminating magic express is another big screw you to guests of really expensive hotels. I also don’t like seeing rides reskinned for whatever current thing is popular like guardians of the galaxy replacing tower of terror.

Interesting. We thought Genie+ worked great and was unquestionably worth the marginal cost. Granted, I never went when there was a free fast pass system, but I didn’t think $20 a person was a lot to ask for what it got us. Never stood in line longer than 15 minutes the entire time we were there.

Also, not sure what you mean about Guardians and Tower of Terror. Just did both last week with Tower being at Hollywood and Guardians being at Epcot. It’s funny you mention those two though as they were the only rides my 7 year old girl did not like!

As far as the Magic Express goes, I never rode it, so I really don’t have a frame of reference. With that said, my buddy who is in a much bigger Disney family than we are, hated the Magic Express and said it was always a cluster. To each their own though.

Walt Disney World
 

The issues I have with Genie + are quite a few, including the costs. $20 per day per person is a lot of money over the course of 4-6 days. Fast pass got you all if the genie + benefits plus more, all for free. Another issue is you can only have one ride reserved at a time so it makes it much more difficult to cluster rides in a certain location. Fast pass was three reservations to start your day. Then one at a time after that.

The other issue with Genie + only allowing one ride reserved at a time is that say if your first ride doesn’t start until 11 or noon which is common if you don’t get on the app early enough, all morning you have no access to the genie + you paid for while you wait for your first reservation.

And here is probably the worst thing about genie + functionality. You can only use it on a ride once per day. So if you really like just a few rides and want to do them repeatedly you can’t using genie +. This is especially problematic for little kids who tend to really gravitate to certain rides and only have limited ride options anyways.

I did magic express multiple times and never once had an issue. Not sure what your friend specifically had problems with but for us it was always as simple as getting off the plane and right on the bus within 15 minutes. Not having it just causes another big cost and hassle to get there and back. But I’m sure with an operation like that there are bound to be issues occasionally. If you didn’t have to now pay for parking at the resorts it wouldn’t be so bad as you could rent a car if you wanted to get to your resort.

Regarding guardians I guess that’s more of a generic complaint across all parks as guardians replaced tower of terror in Disney Land not Disney World. But I would prefer more unique ride creations instead new rides or reskinned ones seemingly now all being based on some movie. I get why they do it but I think they miss the big picture a bit attaching a specific product to every ride. I’m reminded of Men in Black at Universal. That ride just looks really sad and dated.

I can say that I completely agree with being frustrated that you can only do each ride once, but I guess that’s one way to keep lightning lane congestion down.

We didn’t really have a problem with your second point though. Our goal was low stress, so we didn’t try to get there at rope drop. I’d wake up at 7, grab a lightning lane, then pass back out for a bit. By the time everyone was up and ready, we’d be ready to use our selection or we’d be eligible for one because of the 2 hour window.

100% this.

Fast Pass is gone now? I thought it worked really well.

It was too free.

They should have a single rider option like Universal does.

Walt Disney World
 

With fast pass you could make your reservations as much as 60 days in advance so no need to set an alarm and fight everyone else for that first set of reservations. This was a huge perk to staying on Disney property that just went away with no perk to replace it. Also, the two hour window to book another starts from when park opens, not when you reserve, so if your first ride is at 11:30 am or later, yes you can book another before it starts, but you still can’t make that booking until probably 10 or 11 am as parks usually open at 8 or 9 am. It’s all just very anti guest experience to me. It’s no fun having to constantly get on your phone and being in a hyper competitive ride booking environment while on vacation.

Walt Disney World
 

They do have those. I’ve kind of had good and bad experiences with it but that’s just really based on luck.

Yup, Genie+ blows. Gotta wake up at 7am and hope to book a ride, then you have to have a 2 hour recurring alarm to keep booking more rides, except after your 2nd ride, a lot of the others won't be available until later in the afternoon/night time, and to be honest our family started at 8am (or the moment the gates were open) and we were totally spent usually by 4pm.

I haven’t seen them at Disney. I just see the standby line and the fast pass line when I go. I can never use the fast pass system because they aren’t available with employee passes(brother-in-law works there) so it’s always stand around and wait if we want to go on a ride.

Yeah, it was a pretty smooth experience for me. Again, though, I can't compare it to what it was. I just know that we rode everything we wanted, never waited in lines, and was virtually stress free.

I’m happy to report that Disney World actually listened to the complaints and made a change for the positive regarding genie + and ride reservations. Essentially they have decided to return to the fast pass system starting July 24th. And they are rebranding it to lightning lane multi pass and lightning lane single.

Starting then you will get to reserve three rides at a time in advance of your trip. 7 days in advance if you are staying on Disney property and 3 days for off property people. That’s a benefit returned to those paying the extra to stay on Disney properties so great to see. A few holdovers from the awful genie + are that it will still have a cost and there will still be a few marquee rides that require an extra/separate fee to use the lightning lane.

The major fix here is obviously that you can book three rides in advance. No longer will you have to wait to book rides until you enter the parks. That was a huge downgrade on the guest experience as you don’t get to enjoy the atmosphere upon entering, instead you are immediately expected to get on your phone.

This also means you don’t have to arrive as soon as possible in the morning to still ride your favorite things. On the system that’s going away, if you arrived after 9 am, chances are you wouldn’t get a ride reserved you actually wanted until 4 pm at best. But now you can go back to a more relaxed morning with three rides already booked. If you are fine arriving at 10 am you can now do that knowing you already have your whole first part of the day scheduled.

I’m pretty shocked they did this but am very glad and it will make our trip in January much easier. Getting two kids to the park as early as possible was never ideal and this solves that for us and many others.

Also dont forget the 2nd week in January is a great time to go to Disney. That and after Thanksgiving are the best times all year.... Another is mid-September after all the kids go back in school but it will feel ike an oven every day.

When I was living in Missouri I came down on vacation over the July 4th weekend. It was a nightmare. Never again around a holiday.

I agree with all this. :thumb:

Everyone complains about the prices(legitimately) but its a simple supply and demand equation. All of those parks keep raising their fees and entry prices. Still hasn't dented attendance. It's still packed solid all summer. Until attendance starts to drop off, they'll keep jacking up prices.

We just got back a couple of weeks ago. I was dreading the crowds. But you know what? It didn't bother me that much. I was dreading the heat. But you know what? It didn't bother me that much. We had a great time and we rode all of the rides. My wife got us lightning lane for everything (she has a pacemaker plus tachycardia issues) so we didn't wait in line over 20 minutes for anything. We did even rode Tron three times and Avatar twice.

The Avatar ride is pretty cool. We were at Disney World the first summer that ride was open and the waiting line was 2 hours long.

We just got back from a week at Disney World. My first time since I was about 10 so I don't have much recollection. I thought the Genie + and Lightning Lane stuff was pretty cumbersome and annoying, but got easier as I figured it out. They should really give you a 24 hour bootcamp to train you how to maximize using the app and the Genie stuff.

We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and thought the shuttle system was easy to use. Other than it being hotter than Hades, the Disney trip wasn't the nightmare I envisioned. I'm not trying to go back again, but the kids loved it and none of us killed each other.

I was also pleasantly surprised at the food and beverage prices. We bought a dining plan, but if you were just gonna grab a burger and fries at a quick service place it was like $12.99. And bottles of water were $3.50. Pretty comprable to your average fast food prices which was a bit shocking. I expected way worse.

The Avatar ride was maybe the coolest thing I did. My son and I freaking loved it.

I think the normal line was about that long. It was incredibly satisfying to walk through the lightning lane and bypass all the poor souls still standing out in the heat.


The Avatar ride, to me, was more intense than an actual roller coaster like Tron. The 3d-ness and realism of it made my stomach drop quite a bit. It was pretty impressive. I could even feel the banshee's ribs moving in and out as it breathed, which was a very impressive little detail to me.

I think I liked Tron the best. The lead up to the ride was so damn cool...the atmosphere from the music and the dark and the glowing blue everywhere was just so damn cool. We got to sit in the first seat and the initial acceleration was insane

It’s going to be crowded and this isn’t really a secret. People know this going on so it’s really just about having the mindset of not letting it bother you. You have zero control over it and it’s just one of those things that does nothing except make your trip harder than it needs to be.

They just announced today a revamping of Genie+

Will be able to book rides up to 14 days in advance.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/wal...e-plus-8669105

It’s mostly a return of the previous fast pass system with a few tweeks/holdovers from genie +. Post 1158 covers why it needed to happen.

Thanks, missed that.

I do know that getting up super-early and having your head in your phone all day while on vacation sucks.

Hopefully that improves.

Walt Disney World
 

That’s the biggest difference for me. I know you can’t avoid it completely but reducing it where reasonable is always good. Especially so when you first get in the park and are just wanting to take it all in. And having gone plenty of times on the old system and new, it’s definitely a huge improvement.

Did you guys use magicband or magicband +? It’s pretty mixed on what people prefer who go a lot but I’m curious if you guys felt it necessary or questioned if you needed it when researching going. My wife and I prefer it just as another option for reducing phone usage, a little extra “magic” and just a fun thing to wear.

It was definitely more convenient than digging the phone out every time. I saw plenty of people getting out their phone, fumbling around with the app, and holding up the line. We also used the magic bands at the hotel to access our room, the lounge, and to purchase things. If money isn't a problem for you, then go ahead and do it.

This advice.

You know its going to be hot as ****. And there are big crowds almost every day of the year. Prices are high for everything and lines are long. Just accept it as part of the deal going to Disney World.

One mistake people make about the heat is that they see temp highs of 92 or so and tell themselves, we have 92 degree days all the time in Missouri in the summer.

Which is true but 92 in Florida is way different due to the humidity. It feels like 100+ all summer. In Missouri getting in the shade lowers the heat "feel" tremendously. Florida it doesn't help much, That oppressive heat is just goes underneath that shade. Its better than being out in full sun but it aint much relief. Like the advice above, just know you will be hot, sweaty and sticky before you even get into the park. You can shower when you get back to the hotel and the air conditioning.

Oh, and the number of extremely obese people riding scooters is staggering. They are EVERYWHERE and in the way all the time.

The heat really only got to me once, and that was when we were sitting and waiting to make our lightsabers. The little alcove where we had to sit and wait was completely stagant and in full sun, so it was almost unbearable to be there for the 15 minutes. The rest of the time was pretty ok as long as there was a little airflow.

Nice and we definitely agree it’s way more convenient. Those extra features are great to have. And you can actually still use the old magicbands for most things people would need and they can be picked up for $10. But they aren’t compatible at Disneyland and they aren’t rechargeable though like the magicband +. And the magicband + lighting features seem to be fun for the kids as well. When magicbands were free to certain guests based on resort you saw them a lot more but I definitely see less of them now.

In a lot of videos I watch about Tokyo Disneyland they talk about how they immediately notice there aren’t scooters and overweight people everywhere and that it makes getting around way easier.

If you ever didn't want to kill yourself just go to Disney World on a holiday weekend.

Ugh. Flight of Passage is such a good ride.

They don’t bother me but my lady can’t stand getting stuck behind them.

Humans used to be able to walk 20+ miles per day with no issue. It’s kinda sad to see the percentage of the population who can’t even get around the park for 5-10 miles in a day rising but it is what it is at this point. Probably only going to get worse.

I'm at Disney this week and navigating the parks is like being in an unbranded Wall-E experience. Those fat bastards are always in the way.

On July 24th Genie+ will be no more. They are going back to reserving lightning lanes prior to your trip, so no waking up early in the mornings. Here is a much better explanation of it in the link below.

https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2024/...-disney-world/

There's a trick to Disneyworld. They've got app's that interpolate the wait times for all the rides based on nine thousand years of data on ride wait times for Disneyworld:

https://www.reddit.com/r/universalst...eme_park_ride/

App's bassically route you around the park and show you the lowest wait times.

To survive you need to get there early and you need to get one of these applications or you'll be in a world of 100 degree miserable Orlando weather shit. Just my personal opinion.

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My buddy is heading to Disneyworld in August and being from Canada he's pissed because International Travelers apparently can't take advantage of being able to book 7 days out. Booking needs to be made from within the US. Not sure if using a vpn is viable but I think he's looking into it.

So how many of you wore matching dorky t shirts while there? Why do people do that that?

I took no part in such gay ass shit

Did you advise him against going? A good friend would.

His wife is a teacher so summer is their only real option to go. He keeps saying he was able to handle the Texas heat in August last year so I'm wanting to see how well he does in Florida while walking 10 miles a day.

I wasn't talking about the weather, I'm talking about wasting a vacation in the nightmare that is Disneyworld.

I don't understand why they would care where you are when you use an app to book something

I'm confused by the 7 day thing, unless he's not staying on property. I was able to book 60 days in advance for my reservations, maybe they have their permissions geofenced to accommodate Americans first, but when I booked our early April vacation we went on at no point was there ever a 7 day booking timeframe. I was ready to go in February.

This is why we always go in November or December

The new system that replaces Genie plus goes live on July 24th. You can book up to three rides per day similar to the old FastPass plus system. Are you talking about park reservations or dining reservations?

Kinda got to just let him experience it himself to get a taste.

I never heard of international issues on the old system. Perhaps once it actually goes live the answer will be more clear.

You are referring to dining reservations which are 60 days out that you can start booking. The new ride pass system will be 7 or 3 days depending on where you are staying.

80 pages and not a single Plus Sized Disney Influencer pro tip?!
https://i.postimg.cc/4yGgyTnq/IMG-3104.gif

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Disney adults are the cringiest thing you&#39;ll see at the park.<br><br> <a href="https://t.co/IgArP9fUwo">pic.twitter.com/IgArP9fUwo</a></p>&mdash; Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClownWorld_/status/1814469296770502958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Hahaha!!! Zim Zam, You bastard!!!!

Hahahaha. ��

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is the Disney version of &quot;Oh we may have ****ed up by making strict DAS requirements on a ride that isnt designed for standby&quot;<br><br>Even Flight Of Passage, with a 4 hour wait has a bathroom in the middle of the queue. <a href="https://t.co/oL5BScQbnh">pic.twitter.com/oL5BScQbnh</a></p>&mdash; SHAWN IN ORLANDO! (@ShawnNOrlando) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShawnNOrlando/status/1897736015869047219?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I am surprised that this doesn't happen more with the ridiculous size of the lines at WDW.....I don't think any of the recent changes meant to make things "better " had truly worked.

It's thr one complaint that you hear being uttered the most....no matter how much Disney tries to make things better it always finds a way to stumble and bumble along the way.

Their lines are about to get shorter when Epic Universe opens at Universal in May.