Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[auntlynne]

She is very tall of her age and I was worried about the same thing. One cast member asked the ages of both the kids when entering the park. I only had one older couple stop me and ask me her age and if she was required to wear a mask. At first I was a little annoyed but after talking to them they were just curious because they had a granddaughter around the same age and wanted her to join them on a family trip. There is no way on this planet I’d be able to get her to wear a mask. I’ve tried and I imagine it would be similar to bathing a cat. Guests and cast members seemed very lenient to those children who were in that very early one to two year old age range.

I love the analogy of masks on toddlers to bathing a cat.

I am surprised every time I see a little kid wearing a mask.

And saddened when I see adults Not wearing one.

Teens / twenties just seem oblivious to the world around them (They need someone to set them on the right path)

I see no need to question the age of a maskless toddler IF their posse is COVID- responsible.

I am a mask wearer; but not cautious enough to avoid going to WDW later this month.

Thanks everyone for helpful reports.

 

[auntlynne]

We are here now. More crowded than I wanted. Mask compliance around 80 -85% while in MK, better at EOCOT yesterday. My question is, where are people obtaining drinking water? We can only seem to find it in the Starbucks locations, as many counter services do not appear open and the little kiosks that sell ice cream and popcorn don’t have tap water. Today we waited in a Starbucks line for 40 minutes for coffee, breakfast, and waters. Yesterday at EPCOT, we also obtained water from Starbucks with only about a 15 minute wait. We want to stay hydrated without spending money on bottle water. Heading to AK tomorrow and then HS on Monday and back to MK on Tuesday. Anyone know of quick access to ice water?

Found this in another thread

We were just there and there are 3 filling stations I know of that are still operating. The one in Cosmic Ray's in MK, the one in Pandora in Animal Kingdom, and the one in front of the restrooms near the bus stops in HS. There are hopefully more but these are ones I have personally seen and/or used.

 

[yulilin3]

We are here now. More crowded than I wanted. Mask compliance around 80 -85% while in MK, better at EOCOT yesterday. My question is, where are people obtaining drinking water? We can only seem to find it in the Starbucks locations, as many counter services do not appear open and the little kiosks that sell ice cream and popcorn don’t have tap water. Today we waited in a Starbucks line for 40 minutes for coffee, breakfast, and waters. Yesterday at EPCOT, we also obtained water from Starbucks with only about a 15 minute wait. We want to stay hydrated without spending money on bottle water. Heading to AK tomorrow and then HS on Monday and back to MK on Tuesday. Anyone know of quick access to ice water?

At mk the only counter service that's not open is Casey's and harbor house. You can ask for water in all the open ones, Starbucks and first aid

 

[MinnieMSue]

Went to Epcot yesterday via the skyliner. It have extremely long at Caribbean beach - lots of CM directing the multiple long lines. Left pop at 9:50 and in Epcot around 10:45. Went over to Mexico and started there. Walk-on for that ride after purchasing the remy map. Slowly made our way around the countries and eating at the booths. Never a line until Germany so we skipped that. Frozen was posted 55 and was 25 for us. Finished countries and movies/showsabout 5 - crowds definitely increased significantly back there by then. Lots of lines. Never much of an issue with masks noncompliance for us (just occas random noses but never right next to us) and mostly people stayed away from us. Most rides in future world were basically walk on. Soarin took about 25 min or so. Skipped spaceship earth because we were not “feeling it”. It looked like a long line but prob moved quickly. Mission space was very slow for green side but orange was faster. Test track said 55 but prob took 35 and that was because of what I assume to be a cleaning session. The skyliner after word was insane. The line snaked around toward boardwalk and back toward Epcot. Moved fairly quickly but prob 45 min to return to pop

 

[Best Aunt]

Went to Epcot yesterday via the skyliner. It have extremely long at Caribbean beach - lots of CM directing the multiple long lines. Left pop at 9:50 and in Epcot around 9:45. Went over to Mexico and started there. Walk-on for that ride after purchasing the remy map. Slowly made our way around the countries and eating at the booths. Never a line until Germany so we skipped that. Frozen was posted 55 and was 25 for us. Finished countries and movies/showsabout 5 - crowds definitely increased significantly back there by then. Lots of lines. Never much of an issue with masks noncompliance for us (just occas random noses but never right next to us) and mostly people stayed away from us. Most rides in future world were basically walk on. Soarin took about 25 min or so. Skipped spaceship earth because we were not “feeling it”. It looked like a long line but prob moved quickly. Mission space was very slow for green side but orange was faster. Test track said 55 but prob took 35 and that was because of what I assume to be a cleaning session. The skyliner after word was insane. The line snaked around toward boardwalk and back toward Epcot. Moved fairly quickly but prob 45 min to return to pop

When you have a minute, you might want to edit the time you left Pop or the time you arrived in Epcot.

 

[nancipants]

I wonder about refilling the water bottles. Any posted signs restricting this on fountains? Have they installed the semi-contactless kind of bottle fillers that you depress with the full side of the bottle?

At Epcot, there are bottle fillers in the preview center and near the new bathrooms by Starbucks. I used the one in the preview center several times (pressed button with my elbow and sanitized immediately after).

I tried to use the one in Cosmic Rays but they’re only letting people inside with a mobile order.

Also, here’s a secret: the baby care centers have water coolers, and you could also use the sink to refill bottles.

 

[dachsie]

At Epcot, there are bottle fillers in the preview center and near the new bathrooms by Starbucks. I used the one in the preview center several times (pressed button with my elbow and sanitized immediately after).

I tried to use the one in Cosmic Rays but they’re only letting people inside with a mobile order.

Also, here’s a secret: the baby care centers have water coolers, and you could also use the sink to refill bottles.

What/where is the preview center?

 

[yulilin3]

What/where is the preview center?

Odyssey building, between Test Track and Mexico, next to first aid and baby center

 

[yulilin3]

For anyone interested in seeing crowds, I'll be live streaming from Sea World at 10:30am, you can watch in the fb link below

 

[Spazz2k]

Line to Hollywood at RR this morning...was gone in about 2 mins. Definitely quicker access from RR than CBR.

 

[Sydney2977]

Make sure you have a backup plan even if you think these masks will be readily available. some people like the Disney masks but some people hate them. I found the elastic to be extremely uncomfortable.

I think mask advice for Disney should be like shoe advice: it’s a good idea to wear them at home and make sure they are comfortable before you plan to wear them in the parks.

I am bringing plenty of masks with me (have different kinds), I have been required to wear one at work since the first of April, and I anticipate having to wear one there long after even local requirements don't mandate it (we were doing it before these requirements). That's why I was thinking of adding some fun Disney ones to my collection! For the price I figured if they aren't comfortable to wear during our trip (too loose or tight) I can always alter them when we get home and I'll still get use out of them. I didn't want to order online because I only want certain ones, not all four from a pack.

So I'll ask again- has anyone seen the Haunted Mansion or Baby Yoda masks at YC, BC, BW, or GF gift shops, or the gift shops outside MK (going to activate tickets on arrival day), or the gift shops outside Epcot IG or DHS (we could walk from YC)? Or have you seen any of the Disney masks at these locations? Thanks!

 

[crayon3448]

At Epcot, there are bottle fillers in the preview center and near the new bathrooms by Starbucks. I used the one in the preview center several times (pressed button with my elbow and sanitized immediately after).

I tried to use the one in Cosmic Rays but they’re only letting people inside with a mobile order.

Also, here’s a secret: the baby care centers have water coolers, and you could also use the sink to refill bottles.

This happened to us also at Cosmic Ray's. Wasn't let inside for water- even though it was empty- and they sent us down to the ice cream place in future world (sorry, can't recall the name) where we had to wait inside in the line to get water.

 

[WEDWDW]

Just an FYI-Pools at Pop Century have changed over from 9-9 to 10-10-I guess they thought Guests would rather have an extra hour in the PM than the AM.

We were talking to some Guests staying at CBR and the Pool over there is now 10-10 also so I am "guessing" the change is property wide.

 

[coolbrook]

Do we know how soon? We'd love for it to be open Wed.

I wasn't told a date just that they are working on opening it.

 

[edmartin]

More than enough coverage of mask compliance so a quick report of our experience beyond masks (we just arrived yesterday (Saturday))...

Checked in online at OKW. Worked flawlessly. Went direct to our room and used the app to open the door. We had reserved a 1BR and were thrilled to find that we were upgraded to a 2BR. It's just me & my wife on this trip so we don't need the extra space but it's really nice to experience the larger room. Wow, is it nice!

Went to Epcot - arrived around 6PM. Long story but we ended up driving and parking in the main lot. As you might expect, at this capacity and at that hour, there were a lot of spots available. We drove all the way up front and got a primo spot.

Obviously, a tremendous amount of construction in Future World. But the number of walls and different traffic flow was beyond what we expected. For that reason (and the fact we wanted to get to Food & Wine), we wanted to bee-line it to World Showcase. But the maze was "interesting".

Crowds in World Showcase were about what we expected. I believe they did hit capacity yesterday. At that hour, given the Future World construction, and the fact that it is Food & Wine Festival, it seems like the vast majority of guests were in World Showcase. It felt like a ghost town coming across the bridge under the monorail. We didn't feel "crowded" until we got to Mexico - but that's always a tight area. [By the way, the pop-up F&W stand for Mexico serves an awesome margarita!]. But overall, it felt comfortable (crowd-wise).

To be honest, the Food & Wine selections this year are disappointing. I get it!... all the things working against Disney to even pull this off. I'm glad they went forward with Food & Wine at all! But if you come for it, temper your expectations. Strangely enough, our favorite country ended up being America. The lobster roll this year is spectacular. The carrot cake was amazing. And you had me at "wine", anyway. Don't skip it!

One other interesting thing... We love the wine tasting room at the front of Italy. We were surprised to see the doors open as we got there. France, for example, has their tasting room closed. So we went in. They are not serving by the glass (you can get wine at the pop-up F&W stand, of course). But, they said we could buy a bottle and take it with us. I might be wrong but I think the old procedure was that you could buy bottles but they had to be sent to your room or for pickup at the exit; I don't think they normally allow you to walk away with it. But they do now. So we have a nice bottle to enjoy by the OKW pool tonight!

Back to the room at OKW... The new cleaning measures feel really good. The room was spotless. A sign in the kitchen covered the enhanced procedures. Every TV remote is sealed in a plastic bag. We've always felt that DVC does a great job prepping & cleaning rooms. But this is step above. Well done.

Magic Kingdom, here we come!

 

[ksromack]

I just can’t tell everyone how excited we are for our upcoming trip. Reading everyone’s little reports only makes me more excited. We are going to the parks Wednesday-Friday week after next so I am hoping this weekend‘s crowds will have left.

 

[Greta]

I have a couple questions for anyone that has visited recently -

1. Are we allowed to eat a snack in the relaxation stations? I have seen people talk about being able to drink water in them but not sure about bringing in a snack

2. When you have had food at a QS or a snack cart - has it been relatively easy to then find a close place to sit down, take off masks and eat?

thank you in advance

 

[pepperandchips]

I think I may have already posted this but it was handy. We brought our magnetic hooks that we purchased for cruise travel and hung them on the door to our room to hang masks from at SSR. I think most hotel room doors are metal, and others may have metal frames. It was great to have our masks there where you could not miss seeing them on the way out of the room

 

[ReginaMBK]

2. When you have had food at a QS or a snack cart - has it been relatively easy to then find a close place to sit down, take off masks and eat?

Depends on where. MK was hard because there aren't many places to pull off in the first place. EPCOT was super easy, yes. HS, I only attempted this in Galaxy's Edge and it was hard. This is my experience on weekdays, btw.

 

[Spazz2k]

So moved over from RR to Yacht Club today...place is pretty jacked up. Got here at 9:30...got in line for SAB at 9:45...11:45 currently and they are on a wait to get into pool. All chairs are taken, pool is pretty busy...but all good.... cocktails are flowing!!