Make  Believe Vacations LLC
  • Request a Quote
  • Disney Booking Transfer Form
  • Adventures By Disney
  • Aulani
  • Disney Cruise Line
  • Disneyland
  • Walt Disney World
  • Universal Orlando
  • Sandals Resorts
  • AmaWaterways River Cruises
  • Disney Park Hours
  • Blog
  • Referrals
  • Join Our Team
  • About Us
  • Request a Quote
  • Disney Booking Transfer Form
  • Adventures By Disney
  • Aulani
  • Disney Cruise Line
  • Disneyland
  • Walt Disney World
  • Universal Orlando
  • Sandals Resorts
  • AmaWaterways River Cruises
  • Disney Park Hours
  • Blog
  • Referrals
  • Join Our Team
  • About Us
Make  Believe Vacations LLC

StandyBy Skipper Review

6/22/2023

Comments

 
Picture
Be Aware:  
Make Believe Vacations, LLC is in NO way affiliated with nor responsible for any experience you may have with Standby Skipper. This is simply a review of our experience.
Purchase at own risk.
 
I heard about Standby Skipper from other travel agents and was anxious to give it a go.  You have the option to use it for 1 day at $25 or up to 7 days for $45.  Since I'd wanted to try it for more than 1 day, I purchased the 7 day use. I have NO REGRETS. None.

Important details to know:
  • You MUST purchase Genie+ through the My Disney Experience App (MDE), as early as midnight the day of your park visit, BEFORE you can access the ride sections on Standby Skipper. You cannot use Standby Skipper WITHOUT Genie+.
  • You cannot use Standby Skipper to book Individual Lightning Lanes (ILL) (such as 7 Dwarf Mine Train, TRON, Flight of Passage, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc.) Those are individual purchases that can only be purchased on MDE for resort guests as early as 7AM, and at park opening time for other guests.
How I used Standby Skipper (SS) :
Day 1
I purchased Genie+ at 3:30 AM on our way to the airport on MDE.  I opened the SS app and chose Jungle Cruise and selected As Soon As Possible for my ride search time because I wanted to ride that FIRST. After selecting that I changed my mind and decided I want to ride
Peter Pan's Flight first, instead, so I cancelled that search in the SS app and added Pan. Since SS had not booked the Jungle Cruise, I could cancel the search in the SS app. Had they made the reservation already, I'd have to make any modifications using the MDE app. 

Once I boarded, I purchased wifi so I could book my ILL for 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, right at 7AM while we were still in air. At 7AM, SS searched and booked Peter Pan, so all I had to worry about was getting 7D, which as you can see below, worked perfectly. Had they not, I could simply MODIFY the times in the MDE app. After I had my 1st selection booked, I went back to the app and added rides as I saw fit. (see below for more info on the booking process) I HIGHLY recommend MODIFYING your ride choice instead of CANCELLING. You lose your time slot if you cancel- you can always move your times or change rides entirely through the MDE app using the MODIFY selection.

​For the other days of my visit- I booked Genie+ when I woke and added rides to SS dependent upon when and where we would be that day. Easy Peasy.
Picture

How To Book

To make your selection, you can narrow the ride choices by specific park, by clicking this symbol
Picture
Choose Your Park
Picture
Make Your Selection(s)
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Choose Your Time Search
Note: you do NOT get to choose a time for Genie+ like you could for FastPasses. You get the 1 hour time span that is available in the MDE app.
HINT- you can swipe downward on the app to refresh over and over to try to get updated 'better' times. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not.  
​At time of creating this BLOG- it was afternoon, but I do believe MORNING was also an option if on app in the AM. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Select Your Party
It will only allow you to choose from Friends & Family that have Genie+ purchased.  Since I am obviously not still at the parks, I could not make actual selections for this BLOG. You can choose 1 person or all, or however many want to do each choice. It is very easy and flexible.

Picture

Another Hint:  Some folks like to "stack" their Genie+ selections for later in the day. Google STACKING GENIE+ for info on that.  There are also some who want to book their 7AM experience for later in the morning/afternoon, so that they can book their NEXT ride right at the 2 hours after the park opens opportunity.

I chose to book my first experience ASAP- you can do it however you want.  My later experiences on that first day I also used ASAP.  Later in the week, especially when park hopping, I made other time selections to fit where I would be and when. Believe me- you will get the gist of it real quick- it takes all the work our of Genie+.

For this BLOG I will not discuss the intricate details of Genie+ as the entire purpose of Standby Skipper is to NOT be bogged down with that. For my clients, I do provide emailed DETAILS of how Genie+ works.
Below you will see my selections.  
​Note sometimes I canceled the search before a booking took place for one reason or another- but you will see how many I made and how much success I had. Scroll through the images below.  Be aware- I made my own selections right through the MDE app without SS sometimes- so I did ride a LOT of rides using Genie+.There wasn't a single ride that I wanted to ride that I was unable to book at one time or another. 
What my selections looked like in the MDE app
Picture
Picture
Please visit the Standby Skipper website to download the app and to see helpful info and a video, by clicking on the Standby Skipper image at the very top of this page or use this link https://www.standbyskipper.com/. 

If you have any questions/comments- PLEASE comment below. I'll gladly help you or answer any questions I did not cover in this BLOG. You can also comment on my Facebook page where the link to this BLOG was added to my page.  

​I truly would not hesitate to purchase Standby Skipper again. It made the daunting task of trying to maximize Genie+ literally a no brainer.  I did NOT spend all day on my phone booking rides- I did spend all day on my phone taking pictures- which is what I preferred to be doing. :) 
Comments

Post Disney Redemption Tour- The Resort

6/19/2023

Comments

 

Our Resort:  
​Disney's Contemporary Resort
Theme Park View, Club Level

Picture

Our Room

Atrium Club Level

Is it worth the extra$$ to stay club level?  
For my family, YES!  I really enjoy going to get my morning coffee with all the fixins including french vanilla in liquid form from a pump and the Mickey shaped sugars.  The view is awesome and seating is plenty, or you can take it back to your room.

We grabbed a quick breakfast everyday, and stopped in every time we returned from our park visits.  Always grabbed a Coke or water and the daughter would grab veggies and dressing for a mid-day snack.  One night she even insisted on some mashed potatoes before we headed to our dinner reservations.

The convenience of always being able to get food & drinks makes it 100% worth it to us- plus the concierge service itself is fantastic. You are welcomed with a big hello every time you return and a have a great day when you leave.  The staff was helpful and informative and FRIENDLY.

The absolute BEST part was that our room was ready upon arrival- at 8:30AM.  I had requested early check-in but that is never a sure thing- luckily it worked out. Such a relief not having to drop our bags with the baggage check- and instead have it in our room and to be able to freshen up from our EARLY flight that had us leaving our house at 3:30AM.

ALSO- there was a glitch in the My Disney Experience app one morning when I need to book Flight of Passage(FOP) for our Animal Kingdom visit.  At 7AM, FOP wasn't showing up at all on the app to purchase as an Individual Lightning Lane. It just wasn't an option- a glitch.  I immediately went to the Concierge desk- conveniently located down the hall from my room and Catie, the Concierge Queen, pulled out her laptop and saw it was available- had me grab my credit card- and we were able to add it on the spot.  Had we not been on concierge level, I would have been on the phone with Disney, likely fairly mad, because without Catie's help I wouldn't have known it was an app glitch and that it was available online. In fact, when we were on the bus heading to Animal Kingdom, another visitor was worried because they had to call to get their FOP reservation and it STILL wasn't showing up after purchasing it on the app. They were worried it didn't go through. I was able to tell them to check on their phone's browser on the Disney website, instead of the app, and sure enough, their reservation showed up. I then told them to screenshot that sucker- because you need to have back up - always.  

​More details to follow . . . 
What we liked about our stay:
  • The LOCATION- can't be beat. We had the best view from our room, but really just by walking outside you can see the Electrical Water Pageant on the Seven Seas Lagoon and the fireworks from Magic Kingdom and even from Epcot. If staying club level- you don't need a theme park view room- because you can watch the fireworks from the Atrium Club with the music piped in from Magic Kingdom, while munching on delicious desserts and having an evening drink. 
  • The Monorail- again BEST way to easily get in and especially BACK from Magic Kingdom and fairly simple to get to/from Epcot. Still must rely on bus for Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom- or better yet- take an Uber, Lyft, or Minnie Van. If there is a downside (but not really) you do have to ride all the way around and stop at the transportation hub, the Polynesian, then the Grand Floridian to get to Magic Kingdom - but I actually enjoyed this little ride each time. And the BEST part is when you are ready to leave- very little wait for the monorail and you are the first stop coming back.
  • The Food- more on that later.
  • The Room decor- the addition of the Incredibles theming is just so cute. I loved it.
  • Ability to walk to Magic Kingdom if you choose. I never chose this option- but daughter and husband walked over one evening to speed through the park to hit all the rides they could, while I stayed and enjoyed the fireworks from our balcony.
Comments

    Author

    Andrea Greene
    ~Wife
    ​~Mom 
    ​~Travel Agency Owner
    ~Vacation Planner
    ~Loves All Things Disney

    Archives

    April 2024
    March 2024
    October 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    December 2022
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Contact Us

Join Now
Join our mailing list today!

Fla. Seller of Travel Ref. No. ST40292 
Travel Packages not sold to CA residents.
​
© 2025 Make Believe Vacations, LLC | All Rights Reserved | All Disney artwork, logos and properties: © Disney | No portion may be copied or redistributed in any form

The images presented are the personal property of Make Believe Vacations, LLC and the use of original graphics or content created for this site is prohibited without express permission.


​