Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[Dentam]

I always tell people coming, if you miss the exit there will be another, all roads lead to WDW here in Central Florida

I am and always have been horrible at navigating. When I did my summer internship at Epcot back in 2000 I was constantly turning off on the wrong exit or missing my exit altogether. I once ended up on a toll road and ran out of change so got a warning ticket. I could see right where I needed to go but there was no exit to get there! This is why I never rent a car now when I go to WDW.

 

[pepperandchips]

Your newest SSR fan stopping by to report that there are four families at the Congress Park pool right now, of which we are one. Pool capacity is not an issue here! Very different from our Poly and Riviera stays




There is a custodial CM stopping by to clean but no recreation CM here to explain about the process to indicate you’re done with your chair or anything like I’ve seen at other resorts. Just something to be aware of if you want to bring your own wipes or anything. We are comfortable with the cleaning going on so please don’t take this as a criticism.

 

[tsme]

Oh one more tip - definitely take advantage of the chat feature in the app. Just requested more towels to our room while waiting in line for skyliner. Also have requested more buses, gotten info on how to get from here to there, etc. Works great!

I didn’t know you could that. Thanks!

 

[Earningmywings]

Has anyone stayed at any of the Disney Springs hotels that usually offer shuttles with Mears (I think). I have read that they are not offering shuttles right now.

 

[Rockbro]

@yulilin3, I stay off of Thunder Rd at all costs! I absolutely hate it! Unfortunately sometimes there is no avoiding it. Funny thing is, I noticed a lot more Florida tags doing crazy stuff than out of state. Of course, I'm a little further west than Disney.

This is one of the things that I really miss about being a cop. In my time, I had maybe 6 different cruisers. Some of them were unmarked. There was such a sense of accomplishment when someone was driving like a... that I could stop them and educate them with the pen and citation book.

Now, I drive on 4 and shake my head constantly at the absolute disregard for others and safety. I once took my bike to Disney (yes, feeling brave that day) and was tense the entire time on 4. I will never do that again.

I drive a big pickup and still feel unbelievably unsafe on 4.

 

[duder92]

Brief report.

Arrived Tuesday afternoon, hit Epcot for dinner at Spice Road, which was fantastic. Afterwards we were able to walk on Frozen, Test Track, and Living with the Land before taking a lovely stroll back to Beach Club after close. Park was pretty much a ghost town.

Went to MK on Wednesday, ride times were low pretty much all day. Got unlucky on splash as they paused to clean it, so waited about 45 minutes, which was the longest wait of the day by about 20 minutes. Space was almost a walk on all day. Went to Boathouse for dinner, our table outside was not really physically distanced so we moved down to the dock and had a fantastic meal at sunset.

Animal kingdom on Thursday, low crowds all day, multiple rides on Everest, FoP and the safari. Returned for dinner at Tiffins just before park close. This was our first attempt to eat inside since this mess started and we asked to be as far from others as possible. Got a large corner booth for the two of us, and were probably 30 feet from nearest people. Felt very safe and dinner was the usual top quality we have always received there.

Just got back to the room from our day at HS. We walked over, was let in the park at 915. Went straight to Mickey and Minnie Railroad, were we waited near the front of the que until 930 when they started boarding. Was off the ride around 940. Walked back to Slinky, got in line where they started loading at 945. Right before we were about to board we were able to grab boarding group 2 at Rise. Went straight to Rise after getting off Slinky. No technical problems, and we were off the ride at a little before 11. Pretty successful day to have the 3 heavyweights done before 11, don't think we could have timed it any better. Otherwise, HS was by far the 'busiest of the parks so far, but we were able to knock out the rest of the rides and were out at 3p. Lunch at docking bay 7 was very good.

Today is definitely the hottest day, but the masks aren't really an issue. Honestly forget they are there half the time. Compliance has been pretty great, and there haven't been any times where I felt uncomfortable. Besides the masks, the parks don't really feel that different to me, just like a nice low crowd day. The resorts are definitely different, as they are pretty dead.

Still have a few more days, but we are having a blast.

 

[yulilin3]

Let's please keep this to just back reports

 

[maryj11]

Just touched down in good old Missouri! We did two days at the Poly on rented points, and two days at the parks, AK and MK. We did AK yesterday (Monday), hit all headliners there by 1:30 and even came back in the evening for a walk on FOP repeat! Here’s what that looked like....

AK day
FOP
NAV
ate at Satu’li Canteen
Character Boat-Chip, Dale, Goofy
Kilamanjaro Safari
Gorilla Falls Trail-saw baby Grace
Dinosaur
Triceratops spin
Expedition Everest
Met Tim Tracker
Swam
FOP again

Went to MK this morning (Tuesday) from Poly and they wouldn’t let us out of the monorail until after 8:30. So we passed MK station at 8:24 and had to go all the way around again before they let us disembark and it was 8:42 by then. We were still able to accomplish the following on our departure day by 11:15 am in time to catch the monorail back to Poly to make our Magical Express Bus.....

MK DAY
Characters at the Main Street Train Station
7DMT
Space Ranger Spin
Space Mountain x 2
Character Cavalcade- Pooh Friends
POTC
ate at Pecos Bills
Under the Sea
Barnstormer
Caught Move it Shake it leaving

Transportation and COVID changes
Poly resort was very easy to socially distance, other than maybe between 2:30-5 at the Lava Pool. Monorail was one family per partition, and the only time we needed the bus it was right there for AK and we were the ONLY people waiting/riding both to and from the park. DS was busy, but we just popped in for some Chicken Guy and left when a storm blew in.

**** I took multiple videos throughout the park just out of amazement for lack of crowds and the ability to socially distance. Of course we went on a Monday and Tuesday so there’s that!

If you are wondering whether or not it’s still magical, I believe it was one of the most relaxing Disney trips we have ever taken, so much so that we switched parks day of with no fret or fuss!

Oh awesome you got to meet Tim Tracker! I just watched his video a few days ago about his AK day.

 

[lotsohugginbear]

Your newest SSR fan stopping by to report that there are four families at the Congress Park pool right now, of which we are one. Pool capacity is not an issue here! Very different from our Poly and Riviera stays ❤


View attachment 518447

There is a custodial CM stopping by to clean but no recreation CM here to explain about the process to indicate you’re done with your chair or anything like I’ve seen at other resorts. Just something to be aware of if you want to bring your own wipes or anything. We are comfortable with the cleaning going on so please don’t take this as a criticism.

View attachment 518447

Love this pool and the view towards DS. We were in building three -- closest to the DS walkway.
I've stayed at Saratoga quite a few times, but this was a favorite trip. And, without a doubt, we were the only Mainers there! We are back home now, and I'll be getting ready to get back in my classroom.

 

[maryj11]

1 - nope! I asked for a couple extra blankets last night tho and they had me fill out an online form with my personal info, presumably to verify it was me. I assume because it was late at night and they didn't want to show up in a room that wasn't really mine? Today I didn't have to verify anything.
2 - yes but they had to transfer me to the a CM that knew transportation answers.
3 - there was maybe 2 days' worth? DH is a coffee drinker. We did request more and they brought a large bag full of all the supplies. They didn't restock when they cleaned our room yesterday. I assume we can get more at anytime.

Good to know about the towels and coffee.[/QUOTE]

 

[Shellyred8]

I have used floral wire in mine. You have to make a pocket to insert it in.

I just finished adding pockets to our masks and I used pipe cleaners for the wire nose piece. I like the floral wire idea too!

 

[hereforthechurros]

Has anyone with a recent on-site hotel stay been able to watch HEA on channel 74? We tried this past weekend but this message was all that was shown no matter the time.

 

[Geomom]

Has anyone with a recent on-site hotel stay been able to watch HEA on channel 74? We tried this past weekend but this message was all that was shown no matter the time.

Not sure what channel we watched it, or which days, but we were at Disney from 7/25-8/8 and saw it on.
Lol, my kids favorite channel was called 'Japan TV'...it was just Disney Parks music, so they liked having it on as background music, one night we had to wait for it to cycle through so they could hear 'Canada' before we went to bed.

 

[lynch34]

Just to confirm - there is no park hopping?

pools busy or no?

 

[monkeydawn]

Just to confirm - there is no park hopping?

pools busy or no?

You really should read the last 10-20 pages to answer your pool question since there is a wide variety in pool, time of day, etc..

 

[erinch]

Thank you to the moderators for all your shepherding!

 

[Dave006]

Just to confirm - there is no park hopping?

pools busy or no?

Definitely no park hopping at this time unless you have two separate tickets and two different park reservations.

What resort pool and what time of day as it varies widely.

Dave

 

[Sydney2977]

It is a brand name but the generic for what I mean is just “water bladder”. We have a 100 oz one for hiking that slips easily into a pocket of my backpack - the backpack wasn’t made specifically for that but it works great!

Thanks for sharing that Camelbaks are still allowed. Ever since the kids got old enough, and DH or I didn't have to be the ones schlepping the big family bag, DH has brought his as his own personal bag. His is a smaller backpack style and I would highly recommend in this hot weather, and for ease since you have to stop to take drinks- you can just pull the mouth piece under your mask for a quick sip while still being 6 ft. form others. Both the boys have ones too and have brought them (they had theirs for Boy Scouts too). If you ask the CM's for cups of water and/or ice you can dump them in the "bladder" and it seems to stay cool longer.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Not sure what channel we watched it, or which days, but we were at Disney from 7/25-8/8 and saw it on.
Lol, my kids favorite channel was called 'Japan TV'...it was just Disney Parks music, so they liked having it on as background music, one night we had to wait for it to cycle through so they could hear 'Canada' before we went to bed.

So bummed we missed it! We tried on 8/6 with no luck. Maybe it just wasn't working that one night?

 

[pepperandchips]

Thanks for sharing that Camelbaks are still allowed. Ever since the kids got old enough, and DH or I didn't have to be the ones schlepping the big family bag, DH has brought his as his own personal bag. His is a smaller backpack style and I would highly recommend in this hot weather, and for ease since you have to stop to take drinks- you can just pull the mouth piece under your mask for a quick sip while still being 6 ft. form others. Both the boys have ones too and have brought them (they had theirs for Boy Scouts too). If you ask the CM's for cups of water and/or ice you can dump them in the "bladder" and it seems to stay cool longer.

It’s been a lifesaver this trip. We’ve filled it as full as we could with ice in the morning and added some water, we have only stayed about 4 hours at a time in the park but usually leave with a little ice still in the bottom.

It’s HOT! Another beautiful day though.