Has anyone actually preferred Disney World during Covid/masking?

[DisLiss]

I mean, the lower crowds would be a dream for me, and if that were the only COVID difference, I'd be there right now! But alas, the masking and the loss of experiences given what it costs us just to travel to WDW are the two major things we don't like about the current situation, so we miss out on the awesomeness of reduced crowds.

 

[Orion Nebula]

We went over President's weekend in February. We expected crowds and we got them. Did not like waiting 2 hours for FOP (when it was posted as 40 minutes shortly after opening), since we would have hopefully used a FP for that. In MK, Adventureland was packed at all times, near Magic Carpets, Aloha Isle, etc. Pirates always had crazy wait times. I do like the distancing in lines as some others have said; it's nice not to have people on top of you in lines. But I miss meeting characters and fireworks. We were just glad to be vaccinated and enjoying time in the parks. At the end of the day, it was a different experience, no complaints.

I was paying close attention to all that and it was pretty disheartening. I probably shouldn't have based the crowd situation around fall. But I had no idea 35% or whatever meant "normal" wait times and people smashed against you. It's crazy... I gave up at one point and figured I got Covid. luckily none of us did but man I didn't expect it to be that bad.

 

[Lizgistix]

Yeah, I'm going to miss this. I've been 3 times and I really enjoy the lower crowds, shorter waits, and not having Fastpass. My trips have been more spontaneous as far as what I want to do (aside from park reservations and ADRs) and the less planning I've needed to do resulted in my trips being less stressful and more about just enjoying being in the moment and maybe doing some things I would have skipped otherwise. (like Sorcerers Of the Magic Kingdom)

I've also come to appreciate the WDW staff more and have been more forthcoming with compliments, waves, and friendly hellos and 'thank you for being here!" than in the past. Speaking of, I have a CM compliment I've been meaning to write.....

 

[dd316]

Even though many people on this thread have reported very pleasant, and even some of their best trips?
I think it's one of those things that you can't say it will be a negative experience without actually doing it (not saying you said that, just a general comment)

Absolutely. Everybody goes and enjoys their visits for different reasons. The only real advantages I see to going right now are lower crowds and lower wait times. I'm fine with dealing with both of those things when there are also everything else I love about going - fireworks, parades, character interactions, no masks, no barriers on rides...

 

[becd]

Since reopening we have gone twice. Once in early November and once this past February. I actually do miss FP, but see I am in the minority. I do not miss 100% capacity. I want them to reopen all of the restaurants, not just a select few! We missed getting a steak at the Yachtsman and truthfully I do miss room service. And I wish they would let you take your masks off for Photo Pass pictures, but other than that the masks do not bother me at all. As one previous poster said about their family, at least one person in my family comes down with something during or post-trip to a Disney park. These past two times everyone was healthy and I know it was because of the distancing, mask-wearing, and constant hand washing.

 

[Twigs]

We just went 2 weeks ago, and we did have a good time and don't regret going...But we probably won't be back til things are more normal. No FP was the biggest reason for us, normally starting out with 3 FP, we did a lot of what we wanted to with going on attactions between passes and still had a nice amount of down time to relax, go in the pool etc. But this trip was constant standing from one long line to the other (there were only a few times the entire week we had a short wait), long walks from the parking lots as there were no trams running. And we had almost no down time. DH and I had our annual passes and we got hoppers for our sons, and the hopping after 2pm worked out well only because of all the the standing in line. Normally we hop to another park much earlier than that. It was brutal wearing the masks in 90 degree weather, and as posted above, it was disappointing we couldn't take masks off for photo pass. I can understand if you were right up against other people like many of the areas we were in, but for the pass pics we were standing well away from the photographer and the places we had them taken also didn't have any people right near us. It would have been no different than stopping to the side, distancing to have a sip of a drink or a bite of something to eat. But we made the best of it and didn't gripe about anything while we were there, as we were determined to have a good trip, but it was really hard not to compare to all of our previous trips afterward. From reading these boards preparing for our trip I was not expecting the crowds we encountered. There were so many times I also kept thinking that they must have upped the 35% capacity as a lot of the walkways we were in were so packed with people, and I was glad we had our vax. Epcot was open to 11pm each night and that was nice because we finally escaped the crowds when we were there after 9pm.

 

[bizeemom4]

We just got home last night from our first post-Covid trip. We LOVED the spacing in things like the bird show at AK, Philharmagic and Muppets. You have great views now - noone blocking the screen/show. This was a definite improvement over pre-covid.

We also loved mobile ordering and not having to wait in lines at QS places. I hated always having to navigate through the crowds bunched around the CM at the register while I carried a full tray of food. The decreased options and choices are a different story.

 

[MATTERHORN]

I love seeing how many families are going and enjoying themselves and NOT coming home with someone sick for the first time in many many trips!! Proof yet again that masks are working and doing what they are supposed to! I hope it continues!

 

[ScubaCat]

the Beach Club marketplace is usually empty

I forgot about that. I REALLY like that little "feature"! Being able to get my coffee (and maybe a breakfast platter) without dealing with crowds. I went once when they had the temporary setup in the Solarium and that was nice, too!

Also, I think it's safe to assume that nobody will miss the masks!

 

[sdeut]

So the crowds are back to being pre-covid bad? We always go during school holidays so we expect crowds at a level of 7 or higher. We were expecting something a little less. Not empty but not school holiday crazy.

 

[wings91]

I will always wear two masks now. Before I thought just one was enough, but it's common sense!!

 

[The13thLetter]

There are still CMs involved with the pin trading. I haven't done any trading, but I've seen it - the pin trading stations have a CM at them, the difference is that they don't touch the pin that you are giving. There is a box to put your non-sanitized pin in, and they will hand you the sanitized pin that you choose (you may not touch any of them while you're deciding, I think you just point to the one you want, and/or describe it to the CM).

Yeah we went in Aug 2020 and I still did some pin trading. You keep the rbber back of your pin and you point to the one you want and they sanitize it and you drop the one you are trading into a bucket.

I was there beginning of August. I walked directly on to Peter Pan at 2:30 in the afternoon. That's certainly a moment that I'll never forget

This. This is why our trip was so memorable. We walked onto FoP twice in a row late afternoon. Longest we waited for anything was maybe 30 minutes for soarin when we caught it on a cleaning cycle. Empty buses. Skylinre to ourselves. Boardwalk area completely dead. food and wine food seemed so much better in quality (could have been my imagination though). i have a video of world showcase around 1230pm where there is literally no one behind or in front of me for as far as i can see.

now obviously it is busier now than it was back summer 2020, and i do miss fireworks, some of the closed restaurants, and resort hopping, but other than that my wife and I had an amazing trip and I am super glad we went.

 

[fla4fun]

I didn’t mind no FP last July and August when the crowds were really low, but I just returned home this morning from a nine day trip, and something has to give. They need some shows or something to keep lines manageable. It was horrible. I think if they decide to go with three foot spacing, they should go back to FP+. At least I knew I would get to ride three things with FP. I really feel for the people going this summer, waiting upwards of an hour for popular attractions with no shade in sight.

I really did enjoy the low crowds when they first reopened, but those levels are not sustainable long term. I miss my favorite restaurants, and my favorite meals at the restaurants that are open. Mobile order has been great, and I hope it continues to work well as capacity increases. I love the no standing on the bus and the one travel party in each Skyliner gondola! I have never liked being stuffed in like sardines at the end of a long, sweaty day with total strangers and their varying levels of cleanliness.

There are always pros and cons to every situation. We had all figured out the best way to navigate a Disney trip under the old system, and then in the new post-lockdown normal, and now we will have to get used to some new hybrid combo system when capacity returns.

 

[Nabas]

July 2020 was unbelievable!

 

[Nabas]

When's the last time you saw DHS like this in the middle of the day?

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We just went 2 weeks ago, and we did have a good time and don't regret going...But we probably won't be back til things are more normal. No FP was the biggest reason for us, normally starting out with 3 FP, we did a lot of what we wanted to with going on attactions between passes

This is us also. I read a lot of posts here and it baffled me when they said that they did not miss FP because they had to run around to use their FP's. I am not sure how their using them but FP+ has made our trips to the parks sooooo much better and definitely made out touring a lot more relaxing, knowing we do not have to keep checking the wait times of of our favorite rides.
OP: summer of 2020 was great if you only wanted to do rides, parks were empty. But since we have gone a lot, we really missed the shows, fireworks etc. plus the very limited menus was very disappointing. We used our APs, but if we would of had to of bought tickets it would not have been worth it. We are heading back Thanksgiving week if they start opening things back up shows etc. but if it's still like it is now, we will probably cancel. Wearing masks were only a minor inconvenience.

 

[JLTraveling]

I haven't gone during Covid, but if FP+ never returns I would be a very, very happy person. Maybe I'm old school, but I'd rather stand in reasonably short, constantly moving queues all day long than run around the park to get to my ride reservations and stand still in unmoving queues in between.

 

[brockash]

It may sound crazy, but I'm wondering if there are any of you who actually preferred it in some way. Do any of the changes actually make it more enjoyable? Do you prefer everyone wearing masks and the extra care with cleaning? Do you like the lower density of people?

I'm considering a trip this summer and wondering if it's better to go for it now. I'm suspecting the "rebound" travel in 2022 is going to be insane.

The only thing I like more is the social distancing....and the way they were doing refillable mugs until recently. Otherwise, no we definitely prefer no masks, fastpaases and not a half done experience.

 

[Blondie58]

I will always wear two masks now. Before I thought just one was enough, but it's common sense!!

Hmmmmmmmm.. My vaccine means no mask unless a private company or organizatipn requires. It is good to be free of masking although I have several great three ply Disney masks.

 

[fla4fun]

I haven't gone during Covid, but if FP+ never returns I would be a very, very happy person. Maybe I'm old school, but I'd rather stand in reasonably short, constantly moving queues all day long than run around the park to get to my ride reservations and stand still in unmoving queues in between.

The problem right now is the lines are not short. Granted, some of that is social distancing, but for my trip starting last week, many guests weren’t being so good with the distancing anyway and were much closer behind me than even the three feet now recommended. Also, since the queues are overflowing into areas where queues weren’t planned, there is very little relief from the sun. If the lines were short, and moving, I would agree with you, but that was not my experience the past couple weeks.

I went to WDW for years before FP, and in fact, never used paper FP because of all the extra backtracking (getting the pass and then returning to ride). I remember how efficient the lines used to be before FP. However, there were fewer people overall in the parks as well. The experience of waiting in line now is nothing like waiting in line then. I don’t recall ever waiting an hour for a ride back then, and it’s too long to be waiting for a ride now. Yes, not every attraction has an hour wait, but I personally did see waits as high as 80 minutes last week at varying times, and this isn’t even the summer rush yet.

I don’t know that FP+ will come back, or if something else will take it’s place, but they need to get the lines under control before they increase capacity.