Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[yulilin3]

I know people going want the super low crowds, but there is little bit of comfort to see the parks getting more crowded

100% agree, Disney opened blind, not knowing what the crowd situation would be, they have already divulged that they had a lot of people cancel in July so they tweaked hours accordingly, now people seem more comfortable to travel and not cancel so I am sure they will tweak again, But seeing more people in the parks is a small sigh of relief for the tourism industry and the economy of Central Florida as a whole

 

[emmabelle]

This is exactly what we are worried about. That we timed it that the crowds will feel normal but with no fast passes we leave Friday for two weeks but only 5 park days. Ugh. I’m stressed out about it all.

We were there last week. If you can somehow not do parks on Sat or Sun you'll have a good time! Last Tuesday around 6pm, we walked on to Test Track two times in a row with no wait at all, same with Soarin. I felt that the best time to get stuff done was in the last two hours. We went to HS last Wednesday, got there by 9:10am, we were in line for MMRR by 9:20 and were off by 9:45am. When we got off the line was snaking all around outside. The lines for everything were getting long so we rode TOT and left, came back for our BG and then at 4pm we did AS, SD, TSMM, RNRC and TOT all in like an hour and a half.




Just as a side note, I said to my husband at Epcot on Friday night, "do you want to ride Mission Space?" He said sure but only if we do orange. I have never done the orange side but said ok anyways. Never, ever, ever, ever again. I was so sick that it ruined the rest of the night, but at least I can say I did it.

 

[lelew]

Ugh that sucks and sounds so disappointing!

I think reduced hours+ all the discounts released+ increasing capacity + word getting out about how the cleanliness is and ppl feeling safe really is upping the crowds.

I go in less the 2 months and I worry that it'll just keep getting more crowded!

I'm used to fast passing everything and never waiting more than 15-20 minutes

I also think the crowds will increase especially when the weather cools down

 

[momimouse27]

After sleeping on it and reading this thread, I'm seriously considering relying on table service for lunch while in the parks. And after reading some of what we have about how DS is on weekends, I'm thinking of changing our normal DS first night meal to a resort meal. Our reservation for Terralina is at 5:30 on a Saturday, so it's an early one. Anyone have advice? Will we have to wait in a hour line to get in the parking garage and then get turned away from DS because it's at capacity?

 

[HollyMD]

Another note. We had good luck with buses from resort to parks in July and again this trip. Only buses we’ve had any trouble with has been DME to airport. In July, it was over an hour late for our pick up time, and today the route was really strange- picked us up at YC, then went to OKW, then BACK to Boardwalk?? Then to Riveria, which we PASSED on the way to OKW. Very unnecessary time on bus for that back and forth route.

 

[Shellbells]

We're supposed to arrive on November 4th but with the crowd and dining reports we might cancel.
We're going to wait until a bit closer and see what happens. I think more people will go with the cooler weather, discounts and the large number of people that got the pin code. If they don't extend the hours and crowd levels are bad we'll just go another time.

 

[NashvilleMama]

After sleeping on it and reading this thread, I'm seriously considering relying on table service for lunch while in the parks. And after reading some of what we have about how DS is on weekends, I'm thinking of changing our normal DS first night meal to a resort meal. Our reservation for Terralina is at 5:30 on a Saturday, so it's an early one. Anyone have advice? Will we have to wait in a hour line to get in the parking garage and then get turned away from DS because it's at capacity?

we didn't have any issues with QS this weekend (Friday - Sunday park days.) I usually placed our orders to secure our time slot well in advance, and then as the time neared I'd submit the actual "we're here" order so they started prepping the order. Never waited more than 10-15 minutes to pick it up and always able to find a table nearby.

 

[hereforthechurros]

We are here now. Epcot yesterday (Saturday) and Animal Kingdom today (Sunday). Epcot yesterday was insane. That’s as busy as I’ve seen it in the past except no Fastpass, reduces hours, and limited food offerings. The cavalcades were a TERRIBLE idea because the already jammed walkways were shoved to the sides. It was not possible to effectively socially distance. Every attraction was consistently 45+ minutes all day.

Today in AK was not much better. With the exception of the first hour, every line was consistently normal operation time lengths. But, reduced hours and limited offerings in terms of food.

Went to Disney Springs tonight in search of XL masks. I should’ve taken a pic of the line just to get in World of Disney. At 8:00 at night. Ghirardelli has a super long line. We left at 9:00 tonight, a Sunday, and the place was still very busy.

I have no idea how they can justify these shorter hours and reduced food offerings. I’m praying it gets better during the week. If not we may just chalk up our losses, change our flights, and go home.

For full ticket price no less.

My only suggestion to guests that are returning and have questions regarding measures they are taking right now, please reach out to guest services and explain your experience. If they start hearing over and over that their current measures are neither efficient nor safe perhaps they’ll make some changes.

 

[NanetteG]

We are here now. Epcot yesterday (Saturday) and Animal Kingdom today (Sunday). Epcot yesterday was insane. That’s as busy as I’ve seen it in the past except no Fastpass, reduces hours, and limited food offerings. The cavalcades were a TERRIBLE idea because the already jammed walkways were shoved to the sides. It was not possible to effectively socially distance. Every attraction was consistently 45+ minutes all day.

Today in AK was not much better. With the exception of the first hour, every line was consistently normal operation time lengths. But, reduced hours and limited offerings in terms of food.

Went to Disney Springs tonight in search of XL masks. I should’ve taken a pic of the line just to get in World of Disney. At 8:00 at night. Ghirardelli has a super long line. We left at 9:00 tonight, a Sunday, and the place was still very busy.

I have no idea how they can justify these shorter hours and reduced food offerings. I’m praying it gets better during the week. If not we may just chalk up our losses, change our flights, and go home.

Thanks for the report Sweetpee and please keep them coming. We are due to arrive next Monday and I am anxious to know what to expect.

 

[yulilin3]

Ak this morning, parked and inside by 8:35, i rope dropped navi which opened at 9am, was on the second boat
Walked to safari, 10 minute walk through queue saw all the animals it was great. And then gorilla falls trail, walking out saw 3 of the cavalcades, left at 11

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

Just as a side note, I said to my husband at Epcot on Friday night, "do you want to ride Mission Space?" He said sure but only if we do orange. I have never done the orange side but said ok anyways. Never, ever, ever, ever again. I was so sick that it ruined the rest of the night, but at least I can say I did it.

Oh my word, I know that feeling, I was tricked into going on the that side...terrible just terrible. It ruined the next couple of hours for me. I will never, ever, ever, ever go on that again.

 

[silver236]

Watching the app today, and it seems with the exception of Studios the wait times have dropped back down again. Hope that holds for our trip in a couple of weeks.

 

[ksromack]

Oh my word, I know that feeling, I was tricked into going on the that side...terrible just terrible. It ruined the next couple of hours for me. I will never, ever, ever, ever go on that again.

I remember riding Mission Space before they had the two sides....and I'm with ya, will never do that ride again. It really did ruin the rest of my day at Epcot!

 

[escriven75]

We are here now. Epcot yesterday (Saturday) and Animal Kingdom today (Sunday). Epcot yesterday was insane. That’s as busy as I’ve seen it in the past except no Fastpass, reduces hours, and limited food offerings. The cavalcades were a TERRIBLE idea because the already jammed walkways were shoved to the sides. It was not possible to effectively socially distance. Every attraction was consistently 45+ minutes all day.

Today in AK was not much better. With the exception of the first hour, every line was consistently normal operation time lengths. But, reduced hours and limited offerings in terms of food.

Went to Disney Springs tonight in search of XL masks. I should’ve taken a pic of the line just to get in World of Disney. At 8:00 at night. Ghirardelli has a super long line. We left at 9:00 tonight, a Sunday, and the place was still very busy.

I have no idea how they can justify these shorter hours and reduced food offerings. I’m praying it gets better during the week. If not we may just chalk up our losses, change our flights, and go home.

Yikes! This is discouraging. Our March trip is rescheduled for Dec 18-23 but I'm starting to wonder if we should reschedule AGAIN? I made park reservations a long while back but now that park hours have been changed and shortened I am planning to try to switch some of our days but they haven't released the hours for Dec yet. I wonder if they're hearing about experiences such as your's and are planning to bump the hours back up for the holiday season? I almost don't even wanna try to go to Epcot this trip....and we LOVE Epcot!

 

[butterscotchcollins]

I think it should be a requirement on this thread for each poster to define what they consider "busy" or "insane" or a "nightmare" in terms of crowds/wait times. The binary of exaggeration and understatement isn't helpful for an already anxious and on-edge fanbase

I consider anything under 45 minutes reasonable, anything under 30 good, and anything 25 and under absolutely glorious. Based on that criteria, we found our trip last week to be very fun and pleasant Lots of walk-ons that had long posted wait times, and also lots of situations where we had to skirt a group of people on a walkway. At EPCOT on Friday for F&W and it was busy but the longest line we experienced for the booths was France around 5pm, we waited socially distanced behind about 10 people and it took probably about 10-15 minutes to get through at the booth - definitely not a miserable experience. The longest wait for a ride was 40 mins for Test Track because of a cleaning cycle but everything else was pretty much a walk on (Soarin' was maybe 15 minutes waiting for the previous show to start and then unload).

Also, there were plenty of spots to grab a table or a seat to enjoy your beverages/snacks. Having to walk 10 yards to find a table is not a miserable experience either.

I think another poster said it best - if you're expecting tumble weeds and empty parks, and for everything to be a walk-on, don't go. If you are frightened of someone coming within 6 feet of you in a gift shop or on a walkway, stay home. If you're spoiled by having to wait more than 5 minutes in a line, you're not going to like it. If, however, you pack your patience you will find a fun and relaxing trip waiting for you.

 

[soniam]

This has been the biggest issue since opening, lunch time
My recommendation would be, if you know what location and approximate time you want to eat mobile order early in the day without hitting the last (prepare my meal) button. That way you basically are reserving your meal time
So at 9 or 10am if you think you'll want to eat around 12:30pm, go on the app, the restaurant you want and click that time period (usually go in 20 min increments) at that time of day (9am or 10am) you will most likely see all the times available, pick your time, order your food and when you get to the restaurant at noon you won't have to wait for a window to open just wait for your food to be made
I hope that all makes sense
In the end it basically works just like an ADR

The app always quits on us and doesn’t allow us to keep a mobile order for too long. Does yours actually stay up for hours or keep you logged in for hours?

 

[yulilin3]

The app always quits on us and doesn’t allow us to keep a mobile order for too long. Does yours actually stay up for hours or keep you logged in for hours?

once you order (as in paid for) the food your time slot stays there, when you get to the restaurant at your time you open it and go to "my orders" and then click "I'm here prepare my food"
So you can do that as early as 9am, pick a restaurant, pick your time slot, pick and pay for the food. At that time the app will just wait for you to say "prepare my food" you don;t have to leave the mobile order window open

 

[NoraRose]

So there’s no park hoppers right now, but is it possible to buy tickets for 2 parks in 1 day? Does anyone know? Would be expensive, but we only have 1 day. I think we could pull off HS and then MK.

 

[Naomeri]

So there’s no park hoppers right now, but is it possible to buy tickets for 2 parks in 1 day? Does anyone know? Would be expensive, but we only have 1 day. I think we could pull off HS and then MK.

No, there is no way to get around the 1 park per day rule

 

[NoraRose]

No, there is no way to get around the 1 park per day rule

Oh, I didn’t know it was a rule! that makes sense!