Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[MEC004]

Not what the previous poster meant.

It was specifically suggested as a tip for maximizing her groups park time. Many find this offensive so be prepared for some negative feedback if you choose to do this.

It seems like the same thing. How could avoiding a meltdown be different than someone getting a drink? Also, why would it be offensive? Really curious here.

 

[Day-Day]

One place where Place Holding is not a problem at all is for Skyliner as it only allows one "Group" per Gondola in Covid World.

Yes and the same for many rides in which a single rider or a "small" group would take up the same designated space. Some folks in line may not realize it but there are many cases when a few can be added and it will not affect the wait times of those in line.

I don't know what others were thinking when we visited in October but I had the feeling that folks understood this and weren't bothered. If someone were to raise a stink I would explain that it doesn't have an effect on their wait time. I'm not going to save a space when it would impact the wait time of others but I'm not going to worry about what they think when saving a space in which it does not impact them.

 

[Debbie Jean]

It seems like the same thing. How could avoiding a meltdown be different than someone getting a drink? Also, why would it be offensive? Really curious here.

I see going to Starbucks, taking pictures which are included as different from avoiding a meltdown which was not the reason the strategy was suggested in any event.

If you do it why shouldn’t everyone else? A line with 1 person turns into 8 people. Now multiple that by dozens of others doing exactly the same thing. I’ve seen it... try MMRR for example. You get on what looks like a reasonable line that’s moving and suddenly you have masses of people ahead of you and you aren’t going anywhere.

People will continue to do it and people will continue to find it offensive. If you want to ride and there’s a standby line, wait on line like everyone else. YMMV

 

[yulilin3]

Again, please stay on topic, this is one of those things that go down an ugly rabbit hole.

 

[lovethattink]

Honestly we might do where one stays in line and the other takes our son who has autism to walk around. We are getting the DAS, but kids can’t wait for too long.

I don’t know how old your son is, but we took my son 16 and his friend 21 to MK for the day. Both are on the spectrum. Being 6 feet apart from people really helps! My son’s friend is in constant motion and having the distance, he had room to pace. His friend is very expressive with his hands and arms, he’s about 6 feet tall, and usually we have to remind him to be careful he doesn’t wack anyone. 6 feet apart in queue made it much easier. They only needed the DAS twice the whole day. And people kept their distance from us and seemed very understanding for the most part.

 

[MEC004]

I don’t know how old your son is, but we took my son 16 and his friend 21 to MK for the day. Both are on the spectrum. Being 6 feet apart from people really helps! My son’s friend is in constant motion and having the distance, he had room to pace. His friend is very expressive with his hands and arms, he’s about 6 feet tall, and usually we have to remind him to be careful he doesn’t wack anyone. 6 feet apart in queue made it much easier. They only needed the DAS twice the whole day. And people kept their distance from us and seemed very understanding for the most part.

That is awesome to hear! This is our first vacation in two years. Last was a Disney Cruise and it went well. Only a couple of meltdown moments. In part he was cruise famous for the trip for being on stage during the first show. He was hilarious and everyone knew his name. He feeds off of that (atypical).

He uses his strategies really well and I don’t see it as being a problem you never know though. He had one the other day because he was excited over the new ice machine Fingers crossed he loves the rides! We’ve been watching all the behind the scenes to get him prepped. Hopefully we won’t have to use the DAS.

 

[WendiDarling]

I stayed aware of the situation. If it looked like the people behind us minded at all, I suggested they go ahead. That was always met kindly. Once you enter the ride Q the cast member asked if all your party was together and we always were by that point.

 

[sullivan.kscott]

Was there last week and a cast member told a family near us that they had to wait in that same line even with reservations.

Ate on San Angel Inn on Tuesday this week. They’re using the back entrance of the pavilion, Norway side, as an ADR “fast pass line” for lack of a better term. We still had to wait behind a few families with ADRs, but it was like three families ahead of us instead of the probably 25 minute wait out front. Near the front is a CM under a green umbrella that directed us where to go.
I’ll also add that it was the perfect time to see the pavilion and enjoy Three Caballeros, as once you’re in the pavilion, you’re in.

 

[Spencer Wright]

Those days are gone I think. It’s a lot busier than it was in July and Aug when there were reports of that.

yes! In august they basically let us in back through whatwas the fast pass line. But the wait times were 5-10 minutes. Sadly I think those days are over.

 

[lovethattink]

That is awesome to hear! This is our first vacation in two years. Last was a Disney Cruise and it went well. Only a couple of meltdown moments. In part he was cruise famous for the trip for being on stage during the first show. He was hilarious and everyone knew his name. He feeds off of that (atypical).

He uses his strategies really well and I don’t see it as being a problem you never know though. He had one the other day because he was excited over the new ice machine Fingers crossed he loves the rides! We’ve been watching all the behind the scenes to get him prepped. Hopefully we won’t have to use the DAS.

Aww, glad he had that experience!

My son feeds off it too. He’s an actor with an agent, imdb and everything!

He’s come a long way with all the early intervention we were able to get him.

 

[guynhawaii]

Aloha,

Family and I enjoyed a magnificent morning and early afternoon at AK. Thought I would share with you our Touring Plan.
Roosting at CR.
At bus stop by 6:30. Bus arrived and departed for AK approximately 6:50.
Arrived at AK approximately 7:05. Screening, security and park entrance all open. Official opening was 8 AM.
Was at the front of the FOP wave and rode the wave throughout the park. Walked on FOP and NR. Strolled to Safaris ride and basically walked on there too.
EE was closed. Had a AM snack and went to Dinosaurs. Five minute wait. Then Tough to be a Bug...10 minute wait. Followed by walking on KRR. Got wet.
Toured the park including the MJT. Toured the east part of the park waiting for EE to open. Noticed they were running dummy loads. Got in line. EE opened around noon. Our last ride before lunch. Walked straight aboard.

AK was a perfect Thanksgiving AM. Vastly superior to our RD AM the previous day at DHS (another thread).

From all accounts, apparently the best transportation to AK for the unofficial RD is the bus.

Good luck!

 

[Spencer Wright]

Sounds like it was a fantastic day!

 

[lovethattink]

We went to DHS today for the last 3 hours the park was open, since I couldn’t get a boarding group at 7am for RotR.

The park was not nearly as crowded as I expected. Compared to Thanksgiving Days or the past, it was fairly empty. I don’t know how it was earlier in the day.

And once the sun went down, the temperature was perfect. It was fun to see the holiday version of the Frozen Singalong and the projection on ToT!

 

[DisneyandBeerLover]

I just went to the parks Nov 14-24! I had a blast! As we were there my state was getting shut down again, so it was nice to be able to do something as we would be coming home to quarantine #2. Although it was bittersweet knowing that I wouldn't technically have a job to come back to.

Anyway, we stayed 10 nights at Pop Century. Let's talk about that first. We were in a preferred room and man was it close to the lobby, about one of the closest rooms you could get to the food court, it was 6112 if anyone is curious. We enjoyed the fact that buses we coming SO frequently that we only waited for the bus to load, leave, and another bus to pull up into its spot, and so on. Sometimes we'd have to wait for the second bus because we had a scooter but the bus was always there, it was just waiting for a spot to pull in to. I only experienced ONE time of my 10 night trip where we actually had to wait for a bus and that was from Epcot to Polynesian. I really hated how there was mousekeeping just two days during our entire trip, but we're the type that like our room cleaned every day. We wish there was an option, we'd even pay extra... we really hated that.

Not specifically related to Pop Century but next is the Skyliner! We love the Skyliner! Especially with the scooter, it's so easy to load. But I never remember it taking so long in the mornings before. We went to Epcot two days with 11am opening, and we'd leave around 9:30am because both times it took us a little over an hour to get to Epcot via Skyliner. I think this is 100% related to the fact that Epcot opens at 11 now. We usually like to go to Epcot right at opening, which usually isn't an issue but because it opens at 11, everyone is up and going by then so it's extra crowded at the time.

Some positives of the times that I like is that some attractions that normally have long waits, aren't crazy long. Peter Pan's Flight and Haunted Mansion for example. I also enjoy actually seeing the queue because we're normally the type to get many many many (20+) FPs in a day. I've never seen the main queue to Peter Pan or Mine Train before. Speaking of the queue, its really nice to not be crowded in with a buuuuunch of people, or to be constantly told to move closer to the people in front of you. Some people just get TOO close. Same thing with shows and shops. Sometimes you can't move in shops because they're so crowded. And back to the buses, it's nice to not have someones butt in your face on the bus, or the other way around. And I really enjoy the cavalcades, I hope these stick around.

Now for the negatives... we miss park hopping most of all, but I know that's coming back so I'm going to move on. Pin trading is really lack luster rn, it's one board or a handful of boards in the parks and some resorts have nothing. I know this isn't a big deal for most, but it's something we really enjoy. We were also very underwhelmed by the food choices both in actual restaurants that were open and what the open restaurants were offering. If a restaurant was open, it usually didn't have the thing we loved about it. The dumbed down menus meant we either eat the same thing every day, or get creative about what we ate. I mentioned it earlier, but we're spoiled in getting many FPs in a day, so seeing a 60 wait for Pirates meant that we didn't go on it. We didn't go on a few rides because of this. Same goes for shops. A lot of time, there's not a line outside of a store, but sometimes there is, and sometimes it's VERY long. We skipped going to shops a lot because of this. We also had a lot of issues with mobile ordering in that our apps wouldn't work a lot so that was frustrating. CMs are kinda pushy about it but when you're hungry and your app isn't working, it's about the most angering thing that can happen at a park.

I think the thing that got to me most however, was peoples inability to distance in queues, or anywhere really. They'd ignore the queue markers and just stand wherever they want. Or they'd stand 6 feet from the people in front of them, clueless to the fact that there's not a marker there because it's not 6 feet from other parts of the queue. Or we're all spaced out until it's time to see a cavalcade or leave a theater show, just forget the 6 feet rule if it's convenient for you!

Side note, I started not feeling great on the 23rd but I also started... uhhh... you know... so I just thought it was that and I didn't think much of it. But now I have a cough. I'm getting tested tomorrow but I swear I'm going to blame the people who stood too close to me if my test is positive. Because I tried to be sooo careful and if I got it I'm going to be annoyed but not surprised honestly. The crowd levels were insane because there were SO MANY PEOPLE. And I know it's 35%, but it's also 35% when some experiences aren't going, and queues are pushed into the "streets" and mobile ordering crowds are insane. It was hard to stay 6 feet from anyone toward the end of the trip.

We're supposed to go in April, and we're planning on staying at the Yacht Club. If things aren't different even if park hopping is back, we're probably going to cancel. There's just too much negative that for us that far outweighs the positive.

 

[jkips]

Good to know it was open at 7:05. We are going back on Saturday and want to be there at the very start! Thanks!

 

[NJlauren]

Thanksgiving day at MK!

I had a fabulous day, we did breakfast, and relaxed and headed over around 1245, in the park around 130. DH and DD6 went to do splash while I wrangled DD2. Unfortunately the only bad spot of the day after waiting 30 the ride went down. They jumped on haunted mansion line, we wrapped up the carousel and met the at haunted mansion. Then we headed to our 3pm liberty tree tavern! They were running a bit behind, but not horrible. Food was fabulous as always.

After LTT we split up again and did big thunder, then country bears which was so nice and cool, it was hot! Then they waited for splash again! Probably about an hour, me and DD2 did pooh, dumbo x3, and under the sea x2. They let us stay on dumbo once and cut via exit to reride under the sea! Then we all met and did pirates, then we did space and buzz.

I thought the crowds were comparable to Saturday, I did think the heat made a few more people lazy with masks, which bothered me, it sucks I get it, but if I can get my 2 year old to wear a mask you can wear one too.

Last day today with some pool and Epcot time!

Happy thanksgiving everyone (a day late)

 

[armerida]

I just went to the parks Nov 14-24! I had a blast! As we were there my state was getting shut down again, so it was nice to be able to do something as we would be coming home to quarantine #2. Although it was bittersweet knowing that I wouldn't technically have a job to come back to.

Anyway, we stayed 10 nights at Pop Century. Let's talk about that first. We were in a preferred room and man was it close to the lobby, about one of the closest rooms you could get to the food court, it was 6112 if anyone is curious. We enjoyed the fact that buses we coming SO frequently that we only waited for the bus to load, leave, and another bus to pull up into its spot, and so on. Sometimes we'd have to wait for the second bus because we had a scooter but the bus was always there, it was just waiting for a spot to pull in to. I only experienced ONE time of my 10 night trip where we actually had to wait for a bus and that was from Epcot to Polynesian. I really hated how there was mousekeeping just two days during our entire trip, but we're the type that like our room cleaned every day. We wish there was an option, we'd even pay extra... we really hated that.

Not specifically related to Pop Century but next is the Skyliner! We love the Skyliner! Especially with the scooter, it's so easy to load. But I never remember it taking so long in the mornings before. We went to Epcot two days with 11am opening, and we'd leave around 9:30am because both times it took us a little over an hour to get to Epcot via Skyliner. I think this is 100% related to the fact that Epcot opens at 11 now. We usually like to go to Epcot right at opening, which usually isn't an issue but because it opens at 11, everyone is up and going by then so it's extra crowded at the time.

Some positives of the times that I like is that some attractions that normally have long waits, aren't crazy long. Peter Pan's Flight and Haunted Mansion for example. I also enjoy actually seeing the queue because we're normally the type to get many many many (20+) FPs in a day. I've never seen the main queue to Peter Pan or Mine Train before. Speaking of the queue, its really nice to not be crowded in with a buuuuunch of people, or to be constantly told to move closer to the people in front of you. Some people just get TOO close. Same thing with shows and shops. Sometimes you can't move in shops because they're so crowded. And back to the buses, it's nice to not have someones butt in your face on the bus, or the other way around. And I really enjoy the cavalcades, I hope these stick around.

Now for the negatives... we miss park hopping most of all, but I know that's coming back so I'm going to move on. Pin trading is really lack luster rn, it's one board or a handful of boards in the parks and some resorts have nothing. I know this isn't a big deal for most, but it's something we really enjoy. We were also very underwhelmed by the food choices both in actual restaurants that were open and what the open restaurants were offering. If a restaurant was open, it usually didn't have the thing we loved about it. The dumbed down menus meant we either eat the same thing every day, or get creative about what we ate. I mentioned it earlier, but we're spoiled in getting many FPs in a day, so seeing a 60 wait for Pirates meant that we didn't go on it. We didn't go on a few rides because of this. Same goes for shops. A lot of time, there's not a line outside of a store, but sometimes there is, and sometimes it's VERY long. We skipped going to shops a lot because of this. We also had a lot of issues with mobile ordering in that our apps wouldn't work a lot so that was frustrating. CMs are kinda pushy about it but when you're hungry and your app isn't working, it's about the most angering thing that can happen at a park.

I think the thing that got to me most however, was peoples inability to distance in queues, or anywhere really. They'd ignore the queue markers and just stand wherever they want. Or they'd stand 6 feet from the people in front of them, clueless to the fact that there's not a marker there because it's not 6 feet from other parts of the queue. Or we're all spaced out until it's time to see a cavalcade or leave a theater show, just forget the 6 feet rule if it's convenient for you!

Side note, I started not feeling great on the 23rd but I also started... uhhh... you know... so I just thought it was that and I didn't think much of it. But now I have a cough. I'm getting tested tomorrow but I swear I'm going to blame the people who stood too close to me if my test is positive. Because I tried to be sooo careful and if I got it I'm going to be annoyed but not surprised honestly. The crowd levels were insane because there were SO MANY PEOPLE. And I know it's 35%, but it's also 35% when some experiences aren't going, and queues are pushed into the "streets" and mobile ordering crowds are insane. It was hard to stay 6 feet from anyone toward the end of the trip.

We're supposed to go in April, and we're planning on staying at the Yacht Club. If things aren't different even if park hopping is back, we're probably going to cancel. There's just too much negative that for us that far outweighs the positive.

Oh no! I hope your test comes back negative! Keep us posted, sending positive vibes

 

[yeheyprincex2]

I don’t know how long your drive is, but we drove to Ohio and back to Florida twice since the pandemic started. Finding restrooms was an issue. Many restaurants were drive thru and sit downs were carry out.

We stopped at a McDonald’s in Georgia that had only drive thru and had to search for a place that had a public restroom. So we ended up stopping at travel plazas with fast food and restrooms.

2nd trip, I packed a cooler bag with food and we pulled over at rest areas.

In the car we had a spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol. We spayed the bottoms of our shoes with alcohol before getting in the car. Got plenty of stares, but we felt safer. Also used it on my purse since I hung it on restroom doors.

Packed several bags to use for garbage and threw them in garbage cans when we got gas or stopped at rest stops.

Kept hand sanitizer readily available.

We stayed at Pop in August. I packed Chlorox wipes for handles and surfaces at the room. But I packed them pre-pandemic too.

Things I packed that I’m glad I did, ketchup, mustard, and Mayo. Knife, fork, and spoons, paper towels, zip lock bags and paper plates. We ate in the room instead of the food court. They gave us like one pack of ketchup, no plates for the large pizza. And it would have been a pain to walk back to food court to ask for those things.

Snacks that don’t require refrigeration or won’t melt in heat. If you don’t pre-order your food and time for counter service, you could be waiting a long time. We packed Krispie Treats to hold us over til our food was ready.

I’ve discovered that 3pm is a great time to eat at the parks.

This is a great tip for everyday life right now Ive been packing forks and spoons napkins in my car since June,

 

[disneyseniors]

I just went to the parks Nov 14-24! I had a blast! As we were there my state was getting shut down again, so it was nice to be able to do something as we would be coming home to quarantine #2. Although it was bittersweet knowing that I wouldn't technically have a job to come back to.

Anyway, we stayed 10 nights at Pop Century. Let's talk about that first. We were in a preferred room and man was it close to the lobby, about one of the closest rooms you could get to the food court, it was 6112 if anyone is curious. We enjoyed the fact that buses we coming SO frequently that we only waited for the bus to load, leave, and another bus to pull up into its spot, and so on. Sometimes we'd have to wait for the second bus because we had a scooter but the bus was always there, it was just waiting for a spot to pull in to. I only experienced ONE time of my 10 night trip where we actually had to wait for a bus and that was from Epcot to Polynesian. I really hated how there was mousekeeping just two days during our entire trip, but we're the type that like our room cleaned every day. We wish there was an option, we'd even pay extra... we really hated that.

Not specifically related to Pop Century but next is the Skyliner! We love the Skyliner! Especially with the scooter, it's so easy to load. But I never remember it taking so long in the mornings before. We went to Epcot two days with 11am opening, and we'd leave around 9:30am because both times it took us a little over an hour to get to Epcot via Skyliner. I think this is 100% related to the fact that Epcot opens at 11 now. We usually like to go to Epcot right at opening, which usually isn't an issue but because it opens at 11, everyone is up and going by then so it's extra crowded at the time.

Some positives of the times that I like is that some attractions that normally have long waits, aren't crazy long. Peter Pan's Flight and Haunted Mansion for example. I also enjoy actually seeing the queue because we're normally the type to get many many many (20+) FPs in a day. I've never seen the main queue to Peter Pan or Mine Train before. Speaking of the queue, its really nice to not be crowded in with a buuuuunch of people, or to be constantly told to move closer to the people in front of you. Some people just get TOO close. Same thing with shows and shops. Sometimes you can't move in shops because they're so crowded. And back to the buses, it's nice to not have someones butt in your face on the bus, or the other way around. And I really enjoy the cavalcades, I hope these stick around.

Now for the negatives... we miss park hopping most of all, but I know that's coming back so I'm going to move on. Pin trading is really lack luster rn, it's one board or a handful of boards in the parks and some resorts have nothing. I know this isn't a big deal for most, but it's something we really enjoy. We were also very underwhelmed by the food choices both in actual restaurants that were open and what the open restaurants were offering. If a restaurant was open, it usually didn't have the thing we loved about it. The dumbed down menus meant we either eat the same thing every day, or get creative about what we ate. I mentioned it earlier, but we're spoiled in getting many FPs in a day, so seeing a 60 wait for Pirates meant that we didn't go on it. We didn't go on a few rides because of this. Same goes for shops. A lot of time, there's not a line outside of a store, but sometimes there is, and sometimes it's VERY long. We skipped going to shops a lot because of this. We also had a lot of issues with mobile ordering in that our apps wouldn't work a lot so that was frustrating. CMs are kinda pushy about it but when you're hungry and your app isn't working, it's about the most angering thing that can happen at a park.

I think the thing that got to me most however, was peoples inability to distance in queues, or anywhere really. They'd ignore the queue markers and just stand wherever they want. Or they'd stand 6 feet from the people in front of them, clueless to the fact that there's not a marker there because it's not 6 feet from other parts of the queue. Or we're all spaced out until it's time to see a cavalcade or leave a theater show, just forget the 6 feet rule if it's convenient for you!

Side note, I started not feeling great on the 23rd but I also started... uhhh... you know... so I just thought it was that and I didn't think much of it. But now I have a cough. I'm getting tested tomorrow but I swear I'm going to blame the people who stood too close to me if my test is positive. Because I tried to be sooo careful and if I got it I'm going to be annoyed but not surprised honestly. The crowd levels were insane because there were SO MANY PEOPLE. And I know it's 35%, but it's also 35% when some experiences aren't going, and queues are pushed into the "streets" and mobile ordering crowds are insane. It was hard to stay 6 feet from anyone toward the end of the trip.

We're supposed to go in April, and we're planning on staying at the Yacht Club. If things aren't different even if park hopping is back, we're probably going to cancel. There's just too much negative that for us that far outweighs the positive.

Thanks for your honest report. I hope you just have a cough and all is well.
I wondered exactly what you meant by the CM's being pushy if you had trouble with your order app?
Did you have to go inside and order, or???
Just wondering because we don't have a smart phone and would have to confront the CM's when trying to order inside?
thanks.

 

[only hope]

Thanks for your honest report. I hope you just have a cough and all is well.
I wondered exactly what you meant by the CM's being pushy if you had trouble with your order app?
Did you have to go inside and order, or???
Just wondering because we don't have a smart phone and would have to confront the CM's when trying to order inside?
thanks.

If you do have a smart phone, cm’s are extremely reluctant to let you go in and order. People have reported 5mn conversations about it w/o distancing with cm if mo wasn’t working or something, which is ridiculous because it doesn’t take that long (usually) to order inside and you can stand back until it’s time to pay.