Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[koquinn]

And it's the 3rd day in a row the Skyliner has been down from Pop so the line for HS is almost as big 1.5hts before park open.

 

[Dallasmomoftwo]

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.

This exactly! Usually when we come we make good use of our fast passes and get more throughout the day. We fill the time in between with shows. We never wait more than 20 minutes with this strategy combined with after hours events, dessert parties, etc. None of those things are available now so we are left with chasing shorter lines and limited selections of food with no shows to fill time.

 

[Obliviate]

On a positive note, I believe WDW employees in general and CM in particular are still going out of their way to make visiting the parks as memorable as possible given the circumstances, and I always make sure to thank every CM I see. One can tell that they really appreciate our gratitude and understanding.

So yesterday it started to rain right before AK closed so I lingered at the shops for a bit. When I arrived to the bus stop at 6:30 (not even that late), what I assume was a manager quickly approached and put me in the first available bus to make sure I didn't have to wait in the storm until my resort bus arrived.

 

[koquinn]

On a positive note, I believe WDW employees in general and CM in particular are still going out of their way to make visiting the parks as memorable as possible given the circumstances, and I always make sure to thank every CM I see. One can tell that they really appreciate our gratitude and understanding.

So yesterday it started to rain right before AK closed so I lingered at the shops for a bit. When I arrived to the bus stop at 6:30 (not even that late), what I assume was a manager quickly approached and put me in the first available bus to make sure I didn't have to wait in the storm until my resort bus arrived.

I agree 100% with this. We couldn't play mini-golf cuz of the storms last night but the CM there played with my kids just letting them toss the balls down the fairways for a bit while we waited to see if the lightning would clear. Great servers at dinner. Very nice!

 

[yulilin3]

I think it's safe to say that if you are visiting now maybe budget for some Uber/Lyft in terms of transportation or be prepared to wait a while for buses.
Since the beginning we've been saying transportation was going to be Disney's biggest hurdle

 

[nkereina]

The photos from Pop are making me nervous for my October trip. We have no issue with calling an Uber/Lyft, but I'm curious how close by they are in the morning, especially in the current environment? And is it possible to Uber to the Contemporary right now so we can walk to MK from there, or would we need to be a guest of the Contemporary to enter? I've never been to the MK area except on a Disney bus, so I don't know where/how the checkpoints are.

 

[brockash]

View attachment 517110
Line for buses to MK this morning at Pop. No social distancing. Not enough buses. So frustrating!

Wow; that's insane. Thank you to all who are reporting their experiences; the good and the bad. It really helps the rest of us who are still on the fence. This looks terrible. Wishing you better luck for the rest of your stay.

 

[yulilin3]

The photos from Pop are making me nervous for my October trip. We have no issue with calling an Uber/Lyft, but I'm curious how close by they are in the morning, especially in the current environment? And is it possible to Uber to the Contemporary right now so we can walk to MK from there, or would we need to be a guest of the Contemporary to enter? I've never been to the MK area except on a Disney bus, so I don't know where/how the checkpoints are.

they are not allowing cars, even ubers into resort parking without a dining reservation BUT the driver can always drop you off on the side and you walk, of course this isn't recommended. The correct way is to go to drop of at TTC then you monorail or ferry to MK

 

[Geomom]

It seems like the Pop has the most bus issues. I also think if you're trying to rope drop parks, the bus lines will be longer. We took buses from VGF and AKV. The driver for the empty Epcot bus from VGF implied that he was the only one, doing back and forth runs on a timed schedule of departures. It doesn't sound like they're doing demand buses, this is where Disney is lacking, no CM nearby and no schedule for when buses will arrive. We didn't really have any issues at VGF and AKV. (At BWV we walked to HS and Epcot.) One morning at AKV the MK and Epcot bus stop was already full of people, we knew we wouldn't get on the next bus, so we took a bus to AK (quick turnover rate for those as it's so close) with the plans of taking a bus to an MK resort and either walking or taking monorail. It worked out for us... Contemporary bus was at AK already, only a couple stops from where we were dropped off. Took bus to contemporary and walked to MK. The other days we had no issues, waited 20 minutes once as we had just missed a bus. We were getting going late each day...10:30-11 for all parks.

 

[2vets]

And the last weekend before ap cancellations take effect

So...some of the crowds through August 11 are people trying to get one last hurrah out of an AP before they cancel their pass? I hope that's part of it. I can't possibly justify flying across the country and paying top dollar this November with reports like those of this weekend -- knowing that long waits and super-short hours are in store for at least two (weekend) of four days. Not to mention the fact that I'm scared about the crowding.

 

[reposado]

We are debating keeping our November booking but a ton of contradicting experiences here with respect to wait times and attendance...

November is anyone’s guess but as of now I certainly wouldn’t be planning a last min trip to Disneyworld. Between the heat,COVID, greatly diminished experience, shorter hours, now add in crappy wait times with no fp all at full price....

Seems like no pro and all cons.

 

[koquinn]

Wow; that's insane. Thank you to all who are reporting their experiences; the good and the bad. It really helps the rest of us who are still on the fence. This looks terrible. Wishing you better luck for the rest of your stay.

Well some good - we've done Dwarf Train and Space and are halfway thru the line for Thunder and got into the park an hour ago. Pretty decent. I think we need to be up earlier for Disney transportation or plan on Lyft the rest of the week.

 

[reposado]

So...some of the crowds through August 11 are people trying to get one last hurrah out of an AP before they cancel their pass? I hope that's part of it.

Doubt it since the AP availability is fully booked till the end of the month. All data show Disney likely greatly increased the number of AP allowed as well.

 

[yulilin3]

Doubt it since the AP availability is fully booked till the end of the month. All data show Disney likely greatly increased the number of AP allowed as well.

This is complete and pure speculation. And this forum is not about that

 

[butterscotchcollins]

What do you guys consider "crappy wait times"? To me anything under 45 minutes is perfectly reasonable. I admire anyone who has a superfan strategy that avoids lines longer than 20 minutes but for us mere mortals these current crowd levels/wait times are the dream. Even with the "increase" in crowds this is still nowhere near normal.

 

[wilkydelts]

November is anyone’s guess but as of now I certainly wouldn’t be planning a last min trip to Disneyworld. Between the heat,COVID, greatly diminished experience, shorter hours, now add in crappy wait times with no fp all at full price....

Seems like no pro and all cons.

I would not be telling others how to feel, plan, or spend their money.

 

[koquinn]

What do you guys consider "crappy wait times"? To me anything under 45 minutes is perfectly reasonable. I admire anyone who has a superfan strategy that avoids lines longer than 20 minutes but for us mere mortals these current crowd levels/wait times are the dream. Even with the "increase" in crowds this is still nowhere near normal.

Well if you can plan with getting here at rope drop and using FP wisely you shouldn't have to wait that long for EVERY ride. It's definitely harder without being able to have reliable morning transportation and no FP.

 

[mrd7896]

November is anyone’s guess but as of now I certainly wouldn’t be planning a last min trip to Disneyworld. Between the heat,COVID, greatly diminished experience, shorter hours, now add in crappy wait times with no fp all at full price....

Seems like no pro and all cons.

this thread is for us to read the experiences of those who are currently there. so those can gear up for their trips or for those that are on the fence of traveling.

I look forward to reading this thread every day to gather some more insight on how my trip in less than a month is going to go.

if you don't want to go to Disney right now, then don't. no one is forcing your hand

but let others form their opinions themselves. I've seen you post on about 8 other threads with the same doom and gloom response.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Well if you can plan with getting here at rope drop and using FP wisely you shouldn't have to wait that long for EVERY ride. It's definitely harder without being able to have reliable morning transportation and no FP.

Except those things aren't necessary now. So I don't understand the current complaints re: increased wait times - it's still better than an average day.

 

[koquinn]

Except those things aren't necessary now. So I don't understand the current complaints re: increased wait times - it's still better than an average day.

They are necessary when you wait almost an hour for a bus home at night or in the morning get up early and still can't make rope drop because they don't have enough buses running. And we would normally have done more rides by now but we've been standing still in Thunder Mountain for 15 minutes watching empty trains go (and it's not for cleaning). If they'd bring back the fp so we're not standing in EVERY line this long it'd make more sense. This is frustrating compared to our normal trips.