- Joined
- Jul 3, 2014
Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping
The bus for DS to Pop tonight at 9pm. Stop 19 but we're back all the way to 24. Insanity. AK today felt very busy when in line. Not as bad walking around but still crowded. Many more maskless people and people who didn't have their noses covered. Very little enforcement from CMs. Hoping tomorrow is better because this kinda sucks without fp after planning for short lines and walk ons.
720L
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2003
Feel the same! I was prepared to be able to endure the mask because of short lines. Wearing a mask & running around the park looking for shorter lines = not a happy camper. Also not many food choices.
Yep. Shortest line we waited in was 25 minutes unless you count Triceratops Spin. Most were 35-45. Wouldn't be terrible if we could at least use fp. But it gets old standing in the hot sun in the queues that stretch way beyond the entrance.
LizzyDragon
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2017
I did MK today. It was my first time being in a park since reopening. Mask compliance was nearly 100%. Wait times were either as advertised or up to 10-15 minutes shorter. Lots of stores/restaurants were closed, but most of the rides were open. Because of the social distancing, lines visually appeared to be way longer than normal (often snaking around corners and ramps), which sometimes made it a little tricky to figure out where they started. But Disney did have staff members with signs marking the start of the line if it went out the normal entrance to the ride.
Guests generally maintained the 6ft distance in the lines. In places where things like fans or shade were a factor, people spaced out more to take advantage of the nicer spots instead of bunching up. Outside of the lines, the park is empty enough that it's easy to move past anyone that may get too close for comfort.
I did do Skipper Canteen for lunch- seemed pretty normal to me (besides using every other table and having digital menus).
The crowd levels are way lower than what I would normally expect for this time of year. The weirdest things for me was how quiet the park was (not as much crowd noise or sounds from street performances), and not seeing the normal shows/parades/fireworks. But I think under the circumstances, Disney is doing the best they can. I don't think they could do much more short of closing down again. I saw staff cleaning surfaces frequently and reminding guests of the changes.
I've got plans to visit HS next weekend, and plan to keep visiting when I can (I'm a local silver AP). The biggest drawback of all the changes is needing to get park reservations- I'm so used to dropping in whenever and not having to plan in advance. I've already had one day this week that my friend and I had to make other plans because we couldn't get park reservations.
Guests generally maintained the 6ft distance in the lines. In places where things like fans or shade were a factor, people spaced out more to take advantage of the nicer spots instead of bunching up. Outside of the lines, the park is empty enough that it's easy to move past anyone that may get too close for comfort.
I did do Skipper Canteen for lunch- seemed pretty normal to me (besides using every other table and having digital menus).
The crowd levels are way lower than what I would normally expect for this time of year. The weirdest things for me was how quiet the park was (not as much crowd noise or sounds from street performances), and not seeing the normal shows/parades/fireworks. But I think under the circumstances, Disney is doing the best they can. I don't think they could do much more short of closing down again. I saw staff cleaning surfaces frequently and reminding guests of the changes.
I've got plans to visit HS next weekend, and plan to keep visiting when I can (I'm a local silver AP). The biggest drawback of all the changes is needing to get park reservations- I'm so used to dropping in whenever and not having to plan in advance. I've already had one day this week that my friend and I had to make other plans because we couldn't get park reservations.
That's not fun
mickey0624
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!!!
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2006
Did people really think crowds were going to stay that small?...I honestly don't get why anyone is surprised. We had a trip scheduled this week and canceled about a month ago just because we didn't want to pay top dollar for a limited experience. But why this spike in crowds is a surprise to anyone boggles my mind. Disney has not hid anything....lines are spread out, restaurants that are open are at limited capacity, menus are limited, transportation is limited. As numbers in Florida drop and hotels begin to open, crowds will get even larger. Right now there are almost no hotels open, only DVC. People are becoming more comfortable going out and Disney has not yet hit their limited capacity on any days. If you are only going because you think every ride will be walk on or 5 minutes, you may want to rethink your plan.
Yes because covid hasn't changed, so why Disney is suddenly letting more people in is beyond me.
mickey0624
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!!!
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2006
theyre not "letting" more people in....they have a limited capacity number whether it be 20K or 25K...whatever it was it was never close to reaching that number. Well now it is and the crowds are getting larger. They haven't upped their capacity, but instead of getting 4K or 5K theyre now getting 10K or 15K
momimouse27
Just a Big Kid!
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2005
I am headed there for a trip 9/26. Just wondering, for those of you who have been or are there now, are the sudden longer lines due to it just being a weekend, do you think? Or has WDW bumped up to the next "phase" of capacity? We plan on visiting MK on a Wednesday during our trip, so hoping we will miss some of that extra weekend traffic. All our park days are on weekdays except our first day, which is Epcot and that's on Sunday.
I don't know how anyone really knows that, but I know that compared to all the reports on here today was disappointing. I hope tomorrow is better, being a Monday. We planned this trip long before covid, when fp still existed. That would be a game changer for us, having fp. We are working really hard to get everything in and it's more exhausting than it's supposed to be.
I'll let you know my opinion tomorrow!
mickey0624
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!!!
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2006
I hope it gets better for you, I really do. It should be a vacation and not stressful, which is one of the reasons we canceled, as we were worried that it may become work and as you said exhausting. Hopefully it was just the weekend, I just do think that as the COVID numbers in Florida start to go down, and people become more comfortable, we will start to see the crowds increase and the parks will begin reaching that reduced capacity...whatever that number may be.
Robertfam08
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2014
No, I didn't. Which is why the extra cut in hours is so unbelievably annoying to me. I was only cool with the shorter hours initially because of reports of such low crowds and the ability to "do it all" in less time.
See this stuff is unacceptable in my opinion. Disney knows they have absolutely nothing offered to guests at night; yet they're not going to ramp up bus service to DS. Reports like this and the crazy wair times is what may make us cancel our upcoming trips. It's one thing to accept not having certain shows/night time stuff etc.; it's quite another for them to basically say who cares and not even try. We can accept paying more for less right now; we can't accept paying to be miserable and this weekend and the previous sporadic reports of long bus times etc. looks pretty miserable. Really disappointing. I really feel for any who are there right now on vacation.
woohoho...Mr. CEO specifically said "anyone lucky enough to get into Disney during this time would be experiencing once in a lifetime low crowds etc." You mean that he wasn't being genuine lol.
On a serious note; while I know Disney mst likely wouldn't stay the way it was the first couple weeks...what's been reported over the last 3 days or so seems pretty crappy for lack of a better word.
DanielNYC
The wand always chooses the wizard!
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2017
Arrived here yesterday (Sunday) at around 10:00AM after driving up from Miami (a dream, btw, on a Sunday morning with no traffic and a straight shot up on the turnpike). This was our resort hop day (a first for us). All went pretty much according to plan with a few surprises here and there. Went to 8 resorts (PC, CB, RV, BC, AKL, Poly, GF and CR). We dropped off the car at DS and used buses, the skyliner (loved it!), 1 Uber and our feet to get around.
It was a lot of fun exploring all the resorts (most of which we'd never set foot in) and taking in the vibe and themeing at all the properties. Didn't have any issues accessing any of the resorts except the one time we used an Uber to get to our lunch reservation at AKL. The guard asked to see our reservation confirmation, we showed it to him, and that was that. Worth noting that if we'd taken a bus there instead we would not have been questioned as nobody said anything to us at any of the other resorts when we arrived by Disney transportation or on foot. The only negative was that we couldn't meander inside any of the QS restaurants at the resorts because you had to mobile order something in order to go inside and we didn't need to do that. However the shops and public spaces were fair game and that was enough for us.
Lunch was at Sanaa and dinner was at The Wave. Both very good, but our waiter at The Wave (Joseph) was a standout. I don't think I've ever been waited on by someone with such a positive attitude. He's wasted as a waiter and should be giving seminars on how to be an outstanding waiter. My wife made it a point to find the manager before we left to sing his praises.
The evening ended with a bus ride back to DS from the CR to pick up the car. I was pleased to see near 100% mask compliance at all the resorts. People also seemed to be very aware of their personal space. When we ate at both restaurants all the masks came off for all diners but that didn't bother me because the table spacing at both restaurants met the distancing requirements.
So far we feel really good about being here. Today is our Epcot day and we're all very excited!
It was a lot of fun exploring all the resorts (most of which we'd never set foot in) and taking in the vibe and themeing at all the properties. Didn't have any issues accessing any of the resorts except the one time we used an Uber to get to our lunch reservation at AKL. The guard asked to see our reservation confirmation, we showed it to him, and that was that. Worth noting that if we'd taken a bus there instead we would not have been questioned as nobody said anything to us at any of the other resorts when we arrived by Disney transportation or on foot. The only negative was that we couldn't meander inside any of the QS restaurants at the resorts because you had to mobile order something in order to go inside and we didn't need to do that. However the shops and public spaces were fair game and that was enough for us.
Lunch was at Sanaa and dinner was at The Wave. Both very good, but our waiter at The Wave (Joseph) was a standout. I don't think I've ever been waited on by someone with such a positive attitude. He's wasted as a waiter and should be giving seminars on how to be an outstanding waiter. My wife made it a point to find the manager before we left to sing his praises.
The evening ended with a bus ride back to DS from the CR to pick up the car. I was pleased to see near 100% mask compliance at all the resorts. People also seemed to be very aware of their personal space. When we ate at both restaurants all the masks came off for all diners but that didn't bother me because the table spacing at both restaurants met the distancing requirements.
So far we feel really good about being here. Today is our Epcot day and we're all very excited!
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