Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[Greta]

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.

Thank you!

 

[ScubaCat]

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!!

Wow, and that's with beach club being closed! We're all the tables available or did they have the "not available" sign on some of them?

 

[disneygirlsng]

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

1. Yes.
2. I had zero trouble finding a spot to pull off to the side or sit to eat/drink anywhere.

 

[Greta]

1. Yes.
2. I had zero trouble finding a spot to pull off to the side or sit to eat/drink anywhere.

Thank you!

 

[lynzi2004]

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?

There were a few contactless ones but water fountains were open as well. We filled up one time in the exit of the Falcon.

 

[Jen Stauch]

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?

I think the 2 snack carts closest to the hub at MK sell fountain soda so you should be able to get water there ... also Pecos Bills and Cosmic Rays also would be good options.

 

[cindy17]

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!

Hi I hv a question ... are u DVC owners? Just curious if u did anything special to get that upgrade? We are checking into OKW Thursday with a 1BR but would love access to a shower with curtain that’s only avail with studio or 2BR (I hv an adult autistic son who I need to help with a shower, the door could make that tough) ... I kinda casually mentioned this to CM at resort when requesting building close to main pool. He didn’t seem too interested in my plight with the shower door but I feel confident he will help me with pool request Thanks and hope ur having a good day!

 

[scrappinginontario]

I think the 2 snack carts closest to the hub at MK sell fountain soda so you should be able to get water there ... also Pecos Bills and Cosmic Rays also would be good options.

Others have reported that you can only enter Pecos Bills or Cosmic Rays if you’ve placed a mobile order so they are not available solely for water.

 

[Spazz2k]

Wow, and that's with beach club being closed! We're all the tables available or did they have the "not available" sign on some of them?

All the tables were available...just taken early. We didn't notice any that had signs saying they were closed.

 

[ScubaCat]

I think the 2 snack carts closest to the hub at MK sell fountain soda so you should be able to get water there ... also Pecos Bills and Cosmic Rays also would be good options.

Don't forget the smaller QS windows like Aloha Isle, Sunshine Seasons, the one in fantasyland with the meh soft serve, the one in tomorrowland next to the gift shop I can't remember the name of either, etc...

Others have reported that you can only enter Pecos Bills or Cosmic Rays if you’ve placed a mobile order so they are not available solely for water.

Has anyone simply asked the CM at the door are we just assuming this? That seems rather odd they would prevent you from filling a water bottle. "To aid in social distancing, you must wait out here and suffer heat exhaustion and/or dehydration."

 

[crayon3448]

Don't forget the smaller QS windows like Aloha Isle, Sunshine Seasons, the one in fantasyland with the meh soft serve, the one in tomorrowland next to the gift shop I can't remember the name of either, etc...

Has anyone simply asked the CM at the door are we just assuming this? That seems rather odd they would prevent you from filling a water bottle. "To aid in social distancing, you must wait out here and suffer heat exhaustion and/or dehydration."

Yes, I posted this on the previous page. The cast member at Cosmic Ray's turned us away. We weren't 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.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Has anyone simply asked the CM at the door are we just assuming this? That seems rather odd they would prevent you from filling a water bottle. "To aid in social distancing, you must wait out here and suffer heat exhaustion and/or dehydration."

Yes. The quote below was posted on this thread earlier today so it is current information.

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.

 

[ScubaCat]

Yes, I posted this on the previous page. The cast member at Cosmic Ray's turned us away. We weren't 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.

Sorry I missed your previous post. That seems a little silly but then again they don't want CMs making determinations based on crowd level, so they have to set the policy regardless if there are people inside or not. Kinda sucks but makes sense from a corporate standpoint at least. I can think of an easy way to work around this dilemma but I won't post that here (per board rules )

 

[DocDar]

So it seems alot of people I know decided to go to Florida. I caved in and will more than likely go within the next two weeks, just gotta figure out some home stuff first. Anyway, anyone want to chime in on the parks and their experiences and such. And yes, I know about all the COVID requirements; that won't really stop me. I also know about the lack of shows and characters, which won't stop me as those aren't the reasons I go to the parks. Would also love some tips on buying last minute flights from SoCal. I kinda making it harder for myself by flying only Delta as I've been told they have the strictest mask policies right now which is what I want . Thanks again for any advice you can give

 

[yulilin3]

So it seems alot of people I know decided to go to Florida. I caved in and will more than likely go within the next two weeks, just gotta figure out some home stuff first. Anyway, anyone want to chime in on the parks and their experiences and such. And yes, I know about all the COVID requirements; that won't really stop me. I also know about the lack of shows and characters, which won't stop me as those aren't the reasons I go to the parks. Would also love some tips on buying last minute flights from SoCal. I kinda making it harder for myself by flying only Delta as I've been told they have the strictest mask policies right now which is what I want . Thanks again for any advice you can give

merged you to the existing thread. Read back a couple of pages for the most recent experiences

 

[yulilin3]

Yes, I posted this on the previous page. The cast member at Cosmic Ray's turned us away. We weren't 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.

"Future World" that's a trip for some water I think you meant tomorrowland, probably to Auntie Gravity
It is strange that they are turning people away for water

 

[glocon]

I just looked at MDE and the wait times don’t look so bad at the moment at any of the parks. A few outliers but for the most part, pretty good. Hope everyone there is having fun and staying cool!

 

[20yBWDW]

I posted Friday about a not-so-magical day. Now that our trip is over, I thought I would share more about the trip overall. First, weekdays and even weekends starting half hour before official park opening, you can get about 2 hours of the walk-on and short lines you're dreaming of if you have a trip planned soon. During that time, the masks don't seem so bad, most of your time is in A/C or moving rides.

When the lines get longer and the air gets hotter, it is exponentially worse. It is not the same as pre-Covid hour waits, when you drink, eat, chat away, and play with interactive queues. In some queues, the partitions put up for Covid make the air feel hotter or stuffier. Talking is even harder, due to muffling from masks. This is where mask compliance drops off significantly as well. Other challenges as the crowds increase include finding space to sit, take a breather or getting food and water, with longer lines and fewer places open. It is impossible to keep 6 ft distance in walkways in the type of crowd we saw this weekend.

If you are a park all day kind of person, I suggest lunchtime ADRs for a sit down meal in A/C. If you are a mid-day break kind of person, I suggest sticking with that plan, even with reduced hours. If you arrive 45 minutes before official opening, have your own water, and hit it hard and smart for 2 hours before the first round of cleaning cycles, you'll probably get enough done to feel satisfied with the shorter session before your mid-day break. And the afternoon just sucked this weekend. Crowds around food stands/QS restaurants, waiting for mobile orders. Long lines. Of course, many of the people who push through the afternoon tend to leave well before park closing, so the last few hours seem better.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Kennedy Space center was really busy today. I was a little surprised. The hours today were10-4. It's definitely not enough time to see everything especially with so many people. You need to arrive early to all the presentations as they'd close the doors early due to capacity.

Most of the interactive areas were closed off. Not unexpected but still disappointing. Main restaurant and gift shop were open. I'm glad they are giving away another day next year for free because while what was open was good, a lot was missing. No bus tours are running right now.

I did not see any no mask zones but they weren't really needed since so much is inside in ac. I did not see much cleaning going on so make sure to wipe your table and wash hands a lot. Hand sanitizer was all over. There weren't many employees out policing masks but it didn't matter as i saw almost total compliance arrest. I didn't even really see nose peekers.

If you have the opportunity to go I'd recommend going now if you can get back next year to use the free ticket or waiting until they are open longer and have more things open.

 

[brockash]

We're at Epcot today. The lines have not been terrible; but longer than what we're used to standing in for tgis time of year. Worldshowcase is and has been packed all day...very littlr social distancing as it's just not possible.