Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser to Close September 30

 

In a somewhat surprising move, Disney announced today that the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser is taking its "final voyage" this coming September 28-30, 2023.  This post will discuss what happened, why it's happening and what it might mean for future projects.

This blog didn't talk all that much about the Starcruiser for two reasons - one, this is WDW-centric blog, largely focused on the parks, and this technically doesn't qualify.  And two, we never had the opportunity to experience it firsthand, so there was no sort of "review" that could be done that would be reflective of our own personal feelings.

Dining Plan Returns, Park Reservations (Mostly) Eliminated and More!

Disney dropped a big chunk of news related to 2024 visits today and there is a LOT to get to.  It's funny timing, as I was just talking to someone yesterday about a 2024 trip and we realized that park tickets weren't available yet.  I looked back, and 2023 packages went on sale on June 8, so I had a feeling it was coming soon.  I guess I just didn't realize HOW soon, as this news then broke today.

These bits of news run the gamut, but they all have to do with trips that would begin in 2024 (specifically January 9, 2024, in most cases).  There's always a bit of dread when I see that new Disney news is dropping, but there wasn't any cause for concern this time (which, to be honest, has been the case with a lot of recent news - a good trend!).  All of these things are good news in different ways, so let's dig in and talk about them one at a time.

Favorite Quick Serve Restaurants in Disney World

 

As I've said before, food is a major part of your Walt Disney World vacation.  Food tastes run the gamut, and Disney has something for everyone.  We spend a lot of time thinking about the table service restaurants on our trip - in general, we do one table service and one quick service meal a day (the third meal usually being something from the groceries we order into our resort or something quick and easy to eat on the go for breakfast - gotta hit the parks early!)

The quick service restaurants on property aren't as interesting thematically or often as adventurous as the table service ones.  But there are more of them, and they serve an important function - getting some food into you before you continue your tiring day of walking and riding attractions.  So I thought I'd show some love today to five of my favorite quick serve restaurants on property.  I can't say these are the "best", as I haven't dined everywhere.  But in my opinion, there's something about each of these that's worthwhile.

Disney's Hollywood Studios - Park Strategy

 

 

 

We’re going to be looking at park strategies for all four of the parks at Walt Disney World.  My previous strategy guides assumed that you wouldn't be staying on property or purchasing Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes (ILL).  But so much of the best strategies involve these options, so instead I'm going to talk about what the best option is for each particular park.  Since Early Entry is available to all on property guests, this also changes traditional rope drop strategy. We'll also talk about what you can do if these options aren't available to you.  Today we’ll be discussing Hollywood Studios. (Updated April 19, 2023).

 

Hollywood Studios attractions:

Highest wait times - Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

Moderate wait times – Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Toy Story Mania, Alien Swirling Saucers, Meet Disney Stars at Red Carpet Dreams, Meet Sully at Walt Disney Presents

Lowest wait times – Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, Muppet*Vision 3D, Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, Meet Olaf at Celebrity Spotlight

Best Strategy: Genie+, combined with Early Entry

Alternate Strategy - Genie+ only, stacking rides in the late afternoon and arriving later/park hopping

A quick note on the above - even moderate wait times at this park can be a burden.  For April 2023, the top SIX rides here all averaged over an hour during the day.  That's a lot to work around.  Tower of Terror recently underwent a refurbishment that closed one side of the ride, effectively doubling the wait time.  That appears to be back to normal now, dropping Tower of Terror into the "moderate" category.  On the other hand, Toy Story Mania and Runaway Railway have enjoyed a resurgence of sorts, putting them both in the upper-middle category.  The names may move around, but the result is the same - the top rides are a lot to deal with.

Hollywood Studios is one of the hardest parks to strategize for.  In large part, this is due to the attraction lineup being very top heavy.  There are a lot of newer and very in demand attractions at this park, and currently not a lot of crowd eater type shows and attractions to disperse everyone.  Thankfully, character meet and greets are back, as well as Beauty & The Best: Live On Stage, the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and For The First Time In Forever: A Frozen Sing-a-long. These things should at least help spread the crowds out so that they’re not waiting for one of the five or six big attractions at the park.

 

Magic Kingdom - Park Strategy

 

 

We’re going to be looking at park strategies for all four of the parks at Walt Disney World.  My previous strategy guides assumed that you wouldn't be staying on property or purchasing Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes (ILL).  But so much of the best strategies involve these options, so instead I'm going to talk about what the best option is for each particular park.  Since Early Entry is available to all on property guests, this also changes traditional rope drop strategy. We'll also talk about what you can do if these options aren't available to you.  Today we’ll be discussing Magic Kingdom. (Updated April 19, 2023).

 

Magic Kingdom attractions:

Highest wait times – Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan’s Flight, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, 

Moderate wait times – Pirates Of The Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, it’s a small world, Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh, Tomorrowland Speedway, The Barnstormer,  Under The Sea: Journey Of The Little Mermaid, Enchanted Tales With Belle, pretty much any meet and greet

Lowest wait times –  Mickey's Philharmagic, Dumbo The Flying Elephant, Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, Swiss Family Treehouse, The Magic Carpets Of Aladdin, Tom Sawyer Island, Liberty Square Riverboat, Country Bear Jamboree, The Hall Of Presidents, Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room, Walt Disney’s Carousel Of Progress, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover

N/A - Tron Lightcycle Run (more on this below)

Best Strategy - Genie+

Alternate Strategy - Extended Evening Hours

 

In some ways, Magic Kingdom is the easiest park to strategize around and in some ways it’s the hardest.  There are easily more attractions at this park then at any of the others, probably combined.  That leads to a more spread out crowd throughout the day, with more moderate wait times as opposed to some really busy attractions and some empty ones.  Our recommendation is to spend two days in Magic Kingdom.  If you choose not to (or are unable to do so for any reason), our STRONG recommendation is to purchase Genie+.  I would recommend it even over a two day visit, as it allows your trip to be much more relaxed.  More than any other park, the experience of being there is worth a great deal at the most visited theme park in the world.

 

Epcot - Park Strategy

 

 

 

We’re going to be looking at park strategies for all four of the parks at Walt Disney World.  My previous strategy guides assumed that you wouldn't be staying on property or purchasing Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes (ILL).  But so much of the best strategies involve these options, so instead I'm going to talk about what the best option is for each particular park.  Since Early Entry is available to all on property guests, this also changes traditional rope drop strategy. We'll also talk about what you can do if these options aren't available to you.  Today we’ll be discussing Epcot. (Updated April 19, 2023).

 

Epcot attractions:

Highest wait times – Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, Frozen Ever After, Test Track

Moderate wait times – Soarin' Around The World, Spaceship Earth, Mission: Space, Meet Elsa and Anna at Royal Sommerhaus

Lowest wait times – Journey Into Imagination With Figment, Living With The Land, The Seas With Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk With Crush, Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros

N/A - Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (see below for more on this one specifically)

Best Strategy: Early Entry with Extended Evening Hours if possible

Alternate Strategy: Genie+ (and Early Entry)

 

A couple of notes on the above – first, I’m not including any of the shows (The American Adventure, Awesome Planet, etc) as those generally have set schedules (which you can find at the park or on Disney’s official website) and mostly have little to no wait (essentially the amount of time that the show takes is how long you’ll wait if you just missed it).  Second, wait times are relative, not absolute. This means that the lowest wait times at the busiest time of year will probably still feel quite busy, while the highest wait times on the slowest day of the year won’t seem so bad. Context matters.  

 

Disney's Animal Kingdom - Park Strategy

 

 

 

We’re going to be looking at park strategies for all four of the parks at Walt Disney World.  My previous strategy guides assumed that you wouldn't be staying on property or purchasing Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes (ILL).  But so much of the best strategies involve these options, so instead I'm going to talk about what the best option is for each particular park.  Since Early Entry is available to all on property guests, this also changes traditional rope drop strategy. We'll also talk about what you can do if these options aren't available to you.  Today we’ll be discussing Disney’s Animal Kingdom (DAK). (Updated April 19, 2023)

 

Animal Kingdom attractions:

Highest wait times – Avatar Flight of Passage, Na’vi River Journey

Moderate wait times – Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost, DINOSAUR, Kali River Rapids

Lowest wait times – TriceraTop Spin, It’s Tough To Be A Bug

Best strategy: Early Entry

Alternate strategy: Arrive late afternoon (maybe park hopping)

 

I’m leaving out any of the animal trails around the park, which are self guided walks around certain areas.  Similarly, I’m also leaving out Rafiki’s Planet Watch, which is an “edutainment” section devoted to animal care and conservation.  Finally, I’m ignoring the shows that have performances at set times (Festival Of The Lion King, Feathered Friends In Flight and soon the returning Finding Nemo: The Big Blue and Beyond).  If you arrive a little before show time, you should have no issues getting in to see a particular performance.  It’s Tough To Be A Bug, while a show, is listed on the official and unofficial wait time apps and the performances run one after the other; that line can back up on busy days but is usually one of the lowest at the park. That will be included here.