Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[nancipants]

Yeah, the viral videos are always non-mask wearers mad about being told to wear a mask.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Probably best to get back to park experiences and not mask confrontation debates. Other threads can be created for those that want to continue that kind of discussion. Thanks.

 

[mlayman7]

Just finished with Hollywood Studios. We got there around 1 pm to see if we could get lucky for a boarding group. We rode Mickey's, slinky, and the falcon before the release at 2 and we got a back up group of 73. Family of five so it seems to put us at a slight disadvantage to add everyone to our group but happy we would have a shot to ride. We ended up getting called right at 530 pm as we got into dinner at 50s prime time. Knowing it would be okay to show up late if dinner ran over an hour we still ended up getting on at 630 exactly. We did rotr back in december and once called had a long wait inside the queue but we nearly made it all the way to the first scene. Overall, we got a ton accomplished, rode Mickey's 3x, slinky, saucers, rotr, falcon, star tours. Back later in the week so ds10 can ride the 'fun rides' tot & RnR.

 

[Alice Sr.]

Just FYI, Tiffins doesn't have outdoor seating. The connected lounge - Nomad Lounge - does, but not Tiffins.

I eat at Tiffins almost every trip - it is usually not crowded and it's a rather quiet place with somewhat of an adult feel to it. It's so quiet that unfortunately with a little one it sort of makes every little noise feel amplified. But there are always children of all ages there. Mine are older now (10 and 6) but I never thought twice about taking mine when they were younger. They know it's daddy's adult place so sit down, behave, enjoy the A/C, and they can act up later.

I agree, but I think one or two people here were seated outside or had the option to for Tiffins dining. We went when it 1st opened but really did not care for it then, with options being limited we are going to give it another shot. I have read a lot of great reviews so I'm really looking forward to it. If the baby is too talkie I'll just take him outside for a walk while the rest finish dinner. Glad you have taught your babies that dining out isn't the same as hanging in your living room, everyone's a winner.

 

[yulilin3]

Just back from Epcot. Arrived at 5:30pm right before Thor decided to give is a show. The park was empty, like empty empty,maybe a couple of hundred people walking around. It just feels dead to me, my DD also pointed out that the music is just playing very low, especially around so everything seems to take extra long to walk to. Did SE, the Awesome Planet movie, Gran Fiesta Tour, a set of Marimbas de America in the Gardens Theater, shopped at Japan for a bit and finished the night inside World Showplace for some fisherman's pie, kielbasa and spanakopita. World Showplace was so empty, maybe 15 people inside and this was round 8:15pm. Epcot has never been my favorite but now is just a complete waste to me other than to go try food. Kudos for those that enjoy it.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Sounds like Disney is trying but selfish guests are not!

Sounds like Disney is NOT trying. Pull a few $$passes$$ and word will get around quickly. It's the CM's JOB to say something. Sorry, MOD, I've been lurking for a really long time and I've been quiet. I cancelled my July/Aug trip because I know the pattern. No way CMs are going to confront the Hoaxers.

And, "sipping' (it's always 'sipping') water, please. So sick of the excuses. STAY HOME for this one year if you can't wear the mask. Vaping? Really? We're back to that?

CMs don't stop cigarette smoking either.

$$$$$$ fines, pulled passes, kick 'em out and word will spread around the boards and social media as fast as throw away rooms and other nonsense.

I'll go back to silent reading now. Promise.

edited to add: I wrote this in response to page 40 something. Just seeing GADisneyDad's note now.

 

[wendow]

As a person behind one of these bigger groups I just leave an extra marker in between them and myself, common sense, imo. Of course there are a lot of people who lack common sense

We are a fam of 6 and I'd say 90% of the time, people left an extra marker since we filled the entire space from marker to marker. Many times we tried to split 3/3 to help people who weren't figuring it out themselves but most were very conscientious of our size and their need to stay back further.

 

[wendow]

Just back from Epcot. Arrived at 5:30pm right before Thor decided to give is a show. The park was empty, like empty empty,maybe a couple of hundred people walking around. It just feels dead to me, my DD also pointed out that the music is just playing very low, especially around so everything seems to take extra long to walk to. Did SE, the Awesome Planet movie, Gran Fiesta Tour, a set of Marimbas de America in the Gardens Theater, shopped at Japan for a bit and finished the night inside World Showplace for some fisherman's pie, kielbasa and spanakopita. World Showplace was so empty, maybe 15 people inside and this was round 8:15pm. Epcot has never been my favorite but now is just a complete waste to me other than to go try food. Kudos for those that enjoy it.

We love Epcot but it felt empty and dead to us too. We used to spend 2 days there but struggled to stay for even 75% of a day this time. I agree music was very low, which shouldn't really bother us, but it did. At times, it just felt so quiet!

 

[jvalic33]

I agree, but I think one or two people here were seated outside or had the option to for Tiffins dining. We went when it 1st opened but really did not care for it then, with options being limited we are going to give it another shot. I have read a lot of great reviews so I'm really looking forward to it. If the baby is too talkie I'll just take him outside for a walk while the rest finish dinner. Glad you have taught your babies that dining out isn't the same as hanging in your living room, everyone's a winner.

I have eaten at both places with 4 under 6 at the time. I prefer Cali Grill because the food there is more kid friendly for my kids because they like sushi and sashimi, etc. I always found my kids were great as long as they were eating. I honestly think you'll be fine at both. Bring some snack for them while you are waiting for food. Sometimes I would keep a small bag of oyster crackers in my purse from another restaurant and/or a squirty tube of baby food because as long as I had that to keep them occupied we were all set.

I'm sorry to say that we ran into some issues with Tiffins over the years. They were never as friendly as ALL the other signature dining restaurants we went to and we are from a restaurant family and the last time we were there I was given old shrimp. My husband used to go to the South Street Seaport market with his Dad when he was a little boy to pick out the fish and he knows fresh fish and my shrimp were inedible and they actually argued with him and were so nasty...and we NEVER complain in restaurants. We will try it again, but not for a bit. It is probably our only negative memory of eating at a Disney restaurant and we have eaten at all the Signatures with all the kids

 

[nancipants]

Just back from Epcot. Arrived at 5:30pm right before Thor decided to give is a show. The park was empty, like empty empty,maybe a couple of hundred people walking around. It just feels dead to me, my DD also pointed out that the music is just playing very low, especially around so everything seems to take extra long to walk to. Did SE, the Awesome Planet movie, Gran Fiesta Tour, a set of Marimbas de America in the Gardens Theater, shopped at Japan for a bit and finished the night inside World Showplace for some fisherman's pie, kielbasa and spanakopita. World Showplace was so empty, maybe 15 people inside and this was round 8:15pm. Epcot has never been my favorite but now is just a complete waste to me other than to go try food. Kudos for those that enjoy it.

An empty Epcot sounds like heaven to me. Lol.

 

[yulilin3]

An empty Epcot sounds like heaven to me. Lol.

lol, it is really hard to convey, I think it's the lack of music tbh. It's just too quiet, plus not having music coming from the extinct live shows and entertainment just makes it worse. You know the excited chatter of guests walking around, there is none of that.

 

[koquinn]

I'm sorry to say that we ran into some issues with Tiffins over the years. They were never as friendly as ALL the other signature dining restaurants we went to and we are from a restaurant family and the last time we were there I was given old shrimp. My husband used to go to the South Street Seaport market with his Dad when he was a little boy to pick out the fish and he knows fresh fish and my shrimp were inedible and they actually argued with him and were so nasty...and we NEVER complain in restaurants. We will try it again, but not for a bit. It is probably our only negative memory of eating at a Disney restaurant and we have eaten at all the Signatures with all the kids

We eat at nice restaurants a LOT and we weren't impressed at Tiffins with the service. The food was fine, but the waiter was super snooty and frankly not friendly at all. Acted like we didn't belong there or something. My kids are older and know how to behave so it wasn't that. It was not an experience we would bother with again. We did it for the ROL package at the time.

 

[MaxsDad]

Hi @wendow! Thank you for this info, we have 2 days planned at Epcot. Maybe we will drop it down to just one if there aren't more things to do before our trip. We were thinking about Sea World maybe we'll move that up to our 2nd Epcot day.

I am in the same boat. We are going in early October. We had 1 day planned at Epcot and were going to go to Universal one day but since they cancelled Halloween Horror nights we decided there was no reason to go. Right now we replaced that day with a 2nd Epcot day but I am considering swapping it with DHS because I really want to make sure I get on RotR and right now we only have one DHS day planned. Sounds like one day at Epcot is enough and two at DHS might be the way to go. Really hate not being able to hop.

 

[jvalic33]

We eat at nice restaurants a LOT and we weren't impressed at Tiffins with the service. The food was fine, but the waiter was super snooty and frankly not friendly at all. Acted like we didn't belong there or something. My kids are older and know how to behave so it wasn't that. It was not an experience we would bother with again. We did it for the ROL package at the time.

Yes, other than the food issue, we had issues with the waiters there as well. We had issues with the waitstaff there on 2 occasions. The funny things is once we were such a large party that we were split up and one group had great service whereas the other table not so much. I have gone back there with my kids now 4 under 11 and they are phenomenal in restaurants and it wasn't that either. They are just not very nice. After the entrees come out and they see my kids eat like adults, they get a little nicer, but there is still just something off there with service and I'm not happy to say someone else experienced it as well, but just glad I'm not crazy.

Narcoosees, Cali Grill, Yachtsman, Le Cellier, Monsieur Paul....I have had such great service there that I have actually left compliments with the managers...but never had that same experience at Tiffins and we have been there I would say 4 times. I'm not one to complain about service and honestly if the food were great you could throw it at me and I'd be happy, but I think the original poster with the question might want to have a more friendly experience if they are worried about dining with kids and unfortunately, from my experience, Tiffins is not that friendly kid atmosphere because of the staff, not for any other reason.

 

[delmar411]

Just back from Epcot. Arrived at 5:30pm right before Thor decided to give is a show. The park was empty, like empty empty,maybe a couple of hundred people walking around. It just feels dead to me, my DD also pointed out that the music is just playing very low, especially around so everything seems to take extra long to walk to.

We did Epcot on Sunday. It was dead then too. We arrived around 5pm and did every ride except Mission Space and Frozen before leaving at 9pm. Frozen was a solid 35-45min wait all evening and my DH just didnt want to do Mission Space (it was walk on though). We also walked the entire world showcase and checked out the F&W booths.

The F&W situation was very disappointing to us. But honestly we enjoyed just walking onto the rides. I hate waiting in lines. LOL

I do like the new cut through areas and I hope those stay after the park re-do. Makes the flow much easier.

 

[MomOTwins]

Yes, other than the food issue, we had issues with the waiters there as well. We had issues with the waitstaff there on 2 occasions. The funny things is once we were such a large party that we were split up and one group had great service whereas the other table not so much. I have gone back there with my kids now 4 under 11 and they are phenomenal in restaurants and it wasn't that either. They are just not very nice. After the entrees come out and they see my kids eat like adults, they get a little nicer, but there is still just something off there with service and I'm not happy to say someone else experienced it as well, but just glad I'm not crazy.

Narcoosees, Cali Grill, Yachtsman, Le Cellier, Monsieur Paul....I have had such great service there that I have actually left compliments with the managers...but never had that same experience at Tiffins and we have been there I would say 4 times. I'm not one to complain about service and honestly if the food were great you could throw it at me and I'd be happy, but I think the original poster with the question might want to have a more friendly experience if they are worried about dining with kids and unfortunately, from my experience, Tiffins is not that friendly kid atmosphere because of the staff, not for any other reason.

This is why I have a rule of thumb to never judge a disney restaurant by anecdotal reports of bad service—we’ve always had superb service at tiffins! Our last waiter even did a magic show for the kids and brought extra of a certain kind bread from the upcharge bread basket on the house for our son who loved it. On another trip our baby fell asleep in the stroller while we were on our way to the restaurant and they let us bring the stroller inside to the table so he could finish a nap which most places won’t do.

 

[koquinn]

So for those of you who feel like there's not much to do... We love the rides and probably can do them a million times and be happy, but I am a little concerned about filling our evenings. We're there 8 full days. And it sounds like DS isn't amazing for safety and the pools aren't ideal either. We'll do both, but I'm not thinking we'll spend all our free time at either of those. Thoughts on what else to do? With kids ages 9, 12, and 15, plus my 21yo bro pair from South Africa? Is Winter Summerland open yet?

 

[Epcot242]

So for those of you who feel like there's not much to do... We love the rides and probably can do them a million times and be happy, but I am a little concerned about filling our evenings. We're there 8 full days. And it sounds like DS isn't amazing for safety and the pools aren't ideal either. We'll do both, but I'm not thinking we'll spend all our free time at either of those. Thoughts on what else to do? With kids ages 9, 12, and 15, plus my 21yo bro pair from South Africa? Is Winter Summerland open yet?

We're concerned about this too. We made a reservation at the Fantasia Golf for one of the nights so there's that. Otherwise, we're planning on maybe doing the pool at night and staying until close for whatever park we're in that day. It's unfortunate that we're all sort of stuck with things closing early but I share your concern about DS. We're doing it mid-day one day in the hopes it won't be as crowded. It just doesn't seem worth the risk.

 

[yulilin3]

So for those of you who feel like there's not much to do... We love the rides and probably can do them a million times and be happy, but I am a little concerned about filling our evenings. We're there 8 full days. And it sounds like DS isn't amazing for safety and the pools aren't ideal either. We'll do both, but I'm not thinking we'll spend all our free time at either of those. Thoughts on what else to do? With kids ages 9, 12, and 15, plus my 21yo bro pair from South Africa? Is Winter Summerland open yet?

the only mini golf open on property is Fantasia Gardens, If you will have a car or can uber/lyft I would recommend heading off property, ICON Park has fun stuff to do https://iconparkorlando.com/about/directions-hours/

 

[MomOTwins]

the only mini golf open on property is Fantasia Gardens, If you will have a car or can uber/lyft I would recommend heading off property, ICON Park has fun stuff to do https://iconparkorlando.com/about/directions-hours/

We've never done the mini golf but glad to have this suggestion. Thanks!