Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[Lizgistix]

What time did you get on Rise with boarding group 25?

It was around noon-ish, I believe.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

I used a scooter on my last trip. I waited in a separate line and they pulled a cabin offline for me so I could take my time entering. Then, once we were inside and ready, they merged my cabin in with the others. I don’t remember waiting for a special cabin.

Presumably, when you're boarding from that separate loading area, only ECV compatible cabins would be diverted into that spur, so you wouldn't wait for one because all of the cabins there can hold an ECV.

But when boarding from the station without a separate spur (I can't recall which one), we had to wait for a cabin and it always had a Mickey head decal on the window. Again, I assume that not every cabin has the wheel chocks in them, so they may be identical except for that. But I can't say for sure because we didn't ride one without an ECV to compare if the space between the seats was wider or not.

If so, the exterior is likely the same and the bench seats are just a few inches shorter on both sides to make a slightly bigger "aisle."

 

[disney16]

We decided to cut our stay short and leaving a day early. We were not charged for tonight. On the flip side, we added a day to our ticket and going to EPCOT before we start home. More pixie dust at the resort shop this morning where we were given a huge discount just because. So today has been a $900 extra in our pocket day. LOL.

We had a nice trip. Not fantastic, not bad, just a pleasant trip. We rode everything we wanted with little to 30 minute waits, ate at CRT, BOG, CM, etc. And there were openings everywhere else for the most part had we wanted.

Never waited for buses or monorail.

CMs were great with exception being the CM at the MK ticket office at the front of the park.

Mask compliance was generally good with the exceptions being the same folks you deal with in every day life's annoyances Although I had to be told when leaving a restaurant since I completely forgot.

If I had a do-over, we would still come, but i would not want to come as a first timer. I've been coming for 45 years so it was ok not to feel the full magic.

Decorations at MK are beautiful and we love the overlay on the castle.

Best wishes to everyone planning!

You mentioned that you added a day to your ticket. How many days was your original park pass? We rented DVC points back in January 2020 and held off on buying park passes until closer to our December 2020 visit. We planned for 8-day passes but when ticket sales resumed this summer, max for 2020 is 7-day. I'm going to try to add the extra day when we get there (assuming there are park reservations available) but concerned that it won't be possible because max tickets are 7-days. Wondered about your situation. Safe travels home and thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[nw6675]

You mentioned that you added a day to your ticket. How many days was your original park pass? We rented DVC points back in January 2020 and held off on buying park passes until closer to our December 2020 visit. We planned for 8-day passes but when ticket sales resumed this summer, max for 2020 is 7-day. I'm going to try to add the extra day when we get there (assuming there are park reservations available) but concerned that it won't be possible because max tickets are 7-days. Wondered about your situation. Safe travels home and thanks for sharing your experience.

We went from 5 to 6 so still under the max. She made a point to say when I first walked up she may not be able, but as soon as I said we had 5 day tickets, she said no problem.

 

[pluto377]

Just arrived today. Our flight from ny was 30 minutes early so that was great. No issues with baggage or car rental. We went straight to ds. We ate at trex (checked in 20 minutes early and seated right away.) No line at world of Disney or ghiradelli. Overall ds seemed empty. This was from about 1-4pm. At akl now waiting for my grocery text from Walmart. We’ll go pick up and grab some dinner while we’re out. MK tomorrow!

 

[Disneymom1126]

We arrived at Disney late Sunday night and today was our first park day (had to work Monday for meetings and teach a class). I found this thread so helpful leading up to our trip, so I want to report on our time in hopes of helping others. I apologize for the length...I tend to be a bit overly wordy! We drove from PA, but stopped at a friend's in Virginia overnight to break up the trip a bit. Smooth sailing with the exception of South Carolina when we hit 95 and sat in stopped/slow traffic for about 10 miles (which took about 45 minutes)....once we hit GA and it was 3 lanes we were good again. They really need to expand 95 to at least 3 lanes in SC, but I digress...

Sunday and Monday were pretty uneventful. We were staying at Bay Lake Tower, went straight to the room to check in and then used mobile order for breakfast, lunch and dinner on Monday from Contempo Cafe (I would have loved to go somewhere, but really did have to work all day - anyone who needs to work, Wifi was good enough in the room to run both my daughter's school work and my meetings at the same time). Mask compliance was really good. I only saw someone without a mask once and that was on the bridge between BLT and the Contemporary Resort and they were taking pictures with MK in the background.

Today (Tuesday) we went to Epcot. We checked out of BLT and left to drive to Epcot at 9:55. When we arrived at the parking booth it was 10:05 and we were about 5 cars back in line (all available lines were about that long). They opened the parking lot and let us through at 10:10 a.m. We were parked, through security, and in line for test track at 10:25 (what a maze to get back there with all the walls up right now!). The ride wasn't running yet, but we continuously walked until we got to the room where you would typically design your car at which point we were stopped until the ride started operating. They started operating the ride at 10:40 and we were off the ride at about 10:50. From there we went to Spaceship Earth (not sure how long the posted wait was, but we waited about 10 minutes). We then headed to Soarin (which turned out to be a good decision because there was a heavy rain while we were in there). Wait was posted as 45 minutes and we waited 30. After that we went to Living with the Land which was posted as 35 minutes, but we waited less than 10 in a continuously moving line. After that we had gotten our room text for AKL and had planned to take an afternoon break, so we left and got lunch while my daughter did some school work at AKL. We had reservations for Teppan Edo (so good!) for 4:30 so we headed back for those. Checked out World Showcase for a bit and then came back to the hotel. We could have ridden anything in future world again as a walk on except for Test Track (30 minute posted) at 6 pm. Frozen was still a posted 60 minutes and the line was back to China when we walked past so we decided not to wait. My daughter was tired and we are doing HS tomorrow early so just taking it easy tonight.

Overall observations from today - there was 100% mask and distancing compliance when we were in line for rides. Outside of that, I really only saw people sitting and eating with masks off - I didn't even see anyone walking and eating/drinking while we were there. We are super cautious because my 75 year old mother lives with us and haven't been anywhere since the initial COVID lock downs and I felt safe/comfortable with everything Disney has put in place. Having said that, I am a pro-mask person and wouldn't come if there weren't mask requirements, but the heat and humidity zapped us more quickly than it usually would without the masks. I also think it's a bit unusually hot/humid for November based on past trips. Thankfully there was a breeze today.

Tomorrow we are headed to Hollywood Studios - we plan to try for a boarding group at 7 a.m. and still rope drop by driving to the park. Our rope drop plan is to head to MMRR and then to ToT and RNR depending on boarding group info. I'll keep track of how things go and report back tomorrow night.

 

[Leigh L]

OMG that's cool, the regular Disney Visa meet is usually with Vader or Kylo, I would love K2SO

They came out really good! I was worried when they didn't show up and was so happy when they did. (I was honestly expecting Vader).

 

[yulilin3]

They came out really good! I was worried when they didn't show up and was so happy when they did. (I was honestly expecting Vader).

That's a nice surprise

 

[Buzz2014]

Anyone there now know what refill mug is being sold.. we are going next week and not sure if it’s worth to buy one since we have last years buzz with the neon top and Halloween one..I would like a different one this time around maybe a Christmas one.

 

[dachsie]

Anyone there now know what refill mug is being sold.. we are going next week and not sure if it’s worth to buy one since we have last years buzz with the neon top and Halloween one..I would like a different one this time around maybe a Christmas one.

I have seen reports of Christmas ones being available.

 

[yulilin3]

I have seen reports of Christmas ones being available.

Maybe it was @rteetz that said they're the same ones from last year?

 

[rteetz]

Maybe it was @rteetz that said they're the same ones from last year?

They are available. I didn’t get a close look at the design though to notice if they are different.

 

[tussking]

Back @ EPCOT this afternoon and evening. Nice and quiet. One day left on my 4-day pass have reservations for HS tomorrow. Hoping to get a boarding time for RISE at 7 am. Must admit mask compliance is excellent.

 

[3darlings]

We went to HS today. We drove hoping to get to RD. Didn't happen and I don' t think it is possible by driving at the moment. We got there at 8:45 and they were just beginning to let cars go into the payment lanes. We were the 2nd car in our lane. Everyone was kept in their lanes until between 9:05-9:10 when they began letting cars in. Once through the booth, we had to follow two cop cars going about 10 mph. Anyway, by the time we parked, it was 9:20. And the we had a long walk because they started parking cars at the furthest end of the lanes. So finally we made it in around 9:30. By that point MMRT was a zoo. So we headed to RNR and we had the limo to ourselves. Unfortunately TOT was down which was really a bummer. It really is a catch-22 when you drive. We did sign up for the virtual queue at 7 and got group 19.

The masks were pretty difficult in the high humidity (95% at one point). We went to Universal in August with masks, and they seemed way more difficult on this trip. Maybe it was the time we spent waiting in long lines outside. Very good compliance with the masks. Disney is doing a good handling g COVID.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Anyone there now know what refill mug is being sold.. we are going next week and not sure if it’s worth to buy one since we have last years buzz with the neon top and Halloween one..I would like a different one this time around maybe a Christmas one.

I bought the Christmas one when I was at the Poly a couple weeks ago. I'll try to remember to get a pic when I get home but the cup itself is mostly white and has a scene done in the new Mickey short animation style with Mickey and friends on a sleigh. The lid is red.

 

[Tormania]

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/entertainment/epcot/visa-card-character-experience/https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/e...sa-cardmember-star-wars-character-experience/

These aren't actually happening right now are they? We've done these in the past but with no M&G going on I assumed that these too were down for the moment.

 

[dachsie]

These aren't actually happening right now are they? We've done these in the past but with no M&G going on I assumed that these too were down for the moment.

You get the picture and they will photoshop the characters in it

 

[Erzengel]

Was there last week.

It was different but I had a blast.

Stayed at OKW using family's DVC points.

Finally brought our 100 years Magic Light Up pins that came out in 2001 that we got on Ebay. They still worked in Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and It's a Small World. Didn't work on anything in Epcot (took it on Spaceship Earth).

Magic Kingdom - Had to do Splash Mountain one more time, before they changed it. First time I did Jungle Cruise with a Holiday theme.
Epcot - I love the Food and Wine Festival but this felt like more of a shopping day then an attraction day. Did Soarin, Spaceship Earth, Mission Space and Test Track. Frozen was done for the entire visit. Can't wait for them to get Ratatouille and GOTG. Although, the Flavors of Fire had the best food as well as Hawaii with the Spam hash.
Hollywood Studios - First time at Galaxy's Edge and it showed with my excitement. Signed up for ROTR and were in Group 16. Ate at Olga's, did Smuggler's Run, built a lightsaber at Savi's. Loved every aspect of Galaxy Edge. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Train was new for us and we were pleasantly surprised. I think we did every ride in the park. We rarely get pictures done professionally at the park, but had the idea to have ours taken in front of the Falcon, but as night fell, realized, I could probably get it taken with a lightsaber and they accommodated. I can't say that, it's my favorite picture in Disney as we have our wedding pictures there but it's up there. If this was available years ago, we'd either had to spend more to get pictures taken at HS or have to remove Epcot from our wedding picture locations.
Animal Kingdom - Has pretty much turned into how many times can we ride Flight of Passage and the answer this time was twice. Still one of our favorites.

They checked our temperature when we entered, the masks didn't really bother us. However with the reduced attendance and shorter hours, you really need to get there at rope drop especially for HS if you want to do everything.

 

[Disneymom1126]

Quick notes on HS so far today:

1. Left AKL at 8:20 and it ended up being too early. We tried to pull on shoulder and put on our 4-ways, but police had everyone keep moving so we ended up having to circle twice before being able to line up. After the second circle we got back to the entrance at about 8:48/8:49 and they were allowing people to line up. We ended up about 5 cars back in our row and I would say there were probably about 40 cars there initially, which quickly grew to many more before theythe opened the lot. Tip for everyone - for whatever reason nobody went up the far left side, but they open all the toll booths at the same time. If the far left is open head that direction and don't question it. They opened all the toll booths at 9:05 and we were parked, through security and in line for MMRR at 9:20. There were a ton of people there at rope drop between the various types of transportation arriving, but it dispersed pretty quickly as people went their separate ways int he park. We were probably a few hundred people back, but had ridden MMRR before 10:00. When we got off, posted wait time was 105 minutes.

From MMRR, we went to TSMM. Posted wait was 15 minutes, but we basically just walked the cue. Our boarding group got called while we were in there but we stayed and rode as we had enough time. When we got off that it was up to a 45 minute wait. After that we headed to rise and got there about 5 minutes before the end of our boarding group (we were in the first group and it got called at 9:40 so we had till 10:40). Then we had lunch at Pizzerizzo which I ordered while in line for Rise. We're now taking a break for my daughter to do some school work and because after we ate lunch all the lines were super long. We'll head back about 2:00 and I'll let you know how that goes.

Rope drop, even not being at the very front of the lines, put us a good 20 minutes "ahead" of the crowds this morning. It is definitely essential as at lunch posted waits were 45 minutes at the least (Star Tours, Alien Swirling Saucers, Racing Academy) and 70-110 minutes for everything else. Mind you, I realize the reports of waits being actually less than that and I'll report back later on what our actual waits are for these rides when we return to the park!

The only thing we have definitely planned for later is a reservation to make a droid at 6:45 - everything else we're going to play by ear (which is crazy disney speak for me, but also a little liberating lol).

 

[BK2014]

We were at Magic Kingdom this morning. It was overcast, hot, sticky and a little drizzly. We drove and got to the toll plaza about 8:05. About 10 cars back. Line starting moving about 8:10 or so. Into MK and straight to Jingle Cruise. They didn't open the ride until right about 9:00am. On and off by 9:13. Then Pirates was a walk on. Then Haunted Mansion was a walk-on. Went to Gaston's Tavern for a brew and cinnamon roll. By the time we got done eating it was shortly after 10am and lines for everything appeared to be long. Haunted Mansion line was now stretching well towards the Liberty Tree Tavern.

After Gaston's, we found some seats outside near the Frontier Trading Post to watch a couple of the Christmas Cavalcades.

Luckily, that is all we had wanted to accomplish this morning, because we were done with the heat and humidity and left about 11:00am. All lines appeared really long and Main Street was pretty crowded at that point.