Thanks so much - that sounds like a perfect idea and a great way to start the day! We've never stayed in the Crescent Lake area so appreciate the tips!
Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping
Excellent information - TY!
MickeyBalloons
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2011
Just went past Disney Holiday Services and the enormous Christmas trees were in pieces waiting to be moved to the parks!
Jules123
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2005
I just got a reservation for Trattoria for 7:30 am on our HS Day. Hoping we can have your same experience. What time did you start your walk to HS?
Okay, so we are home from our 7 night 8-day trip. I LOVE Disney, was a Guest Relations and Tomorrowland attractions CM and have never had a bad Disney vacation, including this one. However, I have to be honest and say that I would not recommend going right now. It isn't that I felt unsafe (although I do think they could do more), but it just isn't as magical right now. My family has been 100s of times as well as to Disneyland Paris and Disneyland, and while we of course enjoyed this we also have been on everything tons of times and know we will be back. To be specific, I would stay away from Magic Kingdom (we did it Friday 10/9) and Hollywood Studios (we did it Tuesday 10/6). The size of these two parks is considerably smaller than the other two and you can definitely feel it as you move from place to place. The wait times you are seeing online for these two parks are accurate, and I would say that in general, after reading all of these posts and other sources, all of the wait times you are seeing are becoming more and more accurate. You feel more of that "herding" now than is typical as you stand in lines on the walkways and outside and just move from one line to the next. With FP I can grab 3 and usually pick up 2-3 more during the day- at Epcot, HS, AK that would just about give us everything we want to ride and free us up to hang out. There are some definite pros to no FP- the lines move again- no more stand and stop- and you can do a more orderly visit without as much park crossing (that lovely jog from Kilamjaro Safaris to Dinosaur back to FoP KILLS me lol!). But, overall, I just did not enjoy it as much. I have to admit, I am surprising myself writing this, I really thought I would never criticize "my" mouse, but it just is awkward.
As for safety- I would say there was a 90+% mask compliance and people did try to follow the markings. But, Disney did this wrong. Basically, they just measured every 6 feet and slapped down a strip. But, we had a party of 6, we can't all stand on that little strip so we stretched back to the strip behind us, and, of course, the next group was standing right there. And, if there was a party in front of us more than 2, they stretched back toward us. So I would say in most lines we were never more than 2-3 feet from other people. Plus Disney didn't make sure that the group in the row next to us, as the switchbacks happened, didn't also stretch out to being right next to us. I NEVER felt this at Universal in June they planned every line out perfectly, didn't attempt to add weird dividers, and made sure switchback standing next to each other didn't happen. Disney needs to go in and remove basically every other line. Yes, I know this is going to put more lines in the sun and outside, and that does suck. But when you are in line for 60-90+ minutes (as many of the waits were at HS and MK- and yes, they really were that long), right smack next to other people, the virus can spread even with masks. We are all hot and sweaty and moving those masks up and down all the time and every time you do that you expose yourself and others. Another thing Disney needs to do is give everyone a squirt of sanitizer before every boarding. While my family did this before and after, when you pull down on those lap bars, you have no idea what germs are on it. At Universal, I felt very safe knowing EVERY person got sanitizer on their hands right before they stepped on board. It didn't increase wait times and was super easy. This would also eliminate the need for "cleaning cycles". Also, at Universal, at every moving walkway, there was a person standing there with sanitizer and a rag constantly whipping down the handrails, I NEVER once saw this on any Disney moving walkway and didn't see it as much elsewhere as I did at Universal either.
I have no idea what Disney is doing with park capacity but I can tell you when all the lines are 50-90 minutes for E-rides and you still have that many people out and about walking around you have too many. I feel literally TERRIBLE saying this as so many of my friends just got laid off, but I'm sorry it just isn't good. While I don't think any of us will get the coronavirus from this (we were very consistent with well-filtered masks, distancing, hand washing, sanitizer, etc.), there is just an "ick" factor you can't help but feel when walking around with everyone wearing masks. It's like you can't get away from what is going on because it is constantly in your face. It just hurts the magic when you feel so herded and you feel too enclosed in the corona world. We will go back again when this is over. I WOULD consider going back to Universal during the virus but not Disney.
Again, this hurts my heart and soul in a way I am surprised about. I have always felt a traitor to Disney visiting any other park, and have never felt the magic quite like I do at Disney, but they let me down on this one.
As for safety- I would say there was a 90+% mask compliance and people did try to follow the markings. But, Disney did this wrong. Basically, they just measured every 6 feet and slapped down a strip. But, we had a party of 6, we can't all stand on that little strip so we stretched back to the strip behind us, and, of course, the next group was standing right there. And, if there was a party in front of us more than 2, they stretched back toward us. So I would say in most lines we were never more than 2-3 feet from other people. Plus Disney didn't make sure that the group in the row next to us, as the switchbacks happened, didn't also stretch out to being right next to us. I NEVER felt this at Universal in June they planned every line out perfectly, didn't attempt to add weird dividers, and made sure switchback standing next to each other didn't happen. Disney needs to go in and remove basically every other line. Yes, I know this is going to put more lines in the sun and outside, and that does suck. But when you are in line for 60-90+ minutes (as many of the waits were at HS and MK- and yes, they really were that long), right smack next to other people, the virus can spread even with masks. We are all hot and sweaty and moving those masks up and down all the time and every time you do that you expose yourself and others. Another thing Disney needs to do is give everyone a squirt of sanitizer before every boarding. While my family did this before and after, when you pull down on those lap bars, you have no idea what germs are on it. At Universal, I felt very safe knowing EVERY person got sanitizer on their hands right before they stepped on board. It didn't increase wait times and was super easy. This would also eliminate the need for "cleaning cycles". Also, at Universal, at every moving walkway, there was a person standing there with sanitizer and a rag constantly whipping down the handrails, I NEVER once saw this on any Disney moving walkway and didn't see it as much elsewhere as I did at Universal either.
I have no idea what Disney is doing with park capacity but I can tell you when all the lines are 50-90 minutes for E-rides and you still have that many people out and about walking around you have too many. I feel literally TERRIBLE saying this as so many of my friends just got laid off, but I'm sorry it just isn't good. While I don't think any of us will get the coronavirus from this (we were very consistent with well-filtered masks, distancing, hand washing, sanitizer, etc.), there is just an "ick" factor you can't help but feel when walking around with everyone wearing masks. It's like you can't get away from what is going on because it is constantly in your face. It just hurts the magic when you feel so herded and you feel too enclosed in the corona world. We will go back again when this is over. I WOULD consider going back to Universal during the virus but not Disney.
Again, this hurts my heart and soul in a way I am surprised about. I have always felt a traitor to Disney visiting any other park, and have never felt the magic quite like I do at Disney, but they let me down on this one.
OhioStateBuckeye
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2007
Just got back from a week in Orlando. Our main purpose was to house hunt, but we did end up going to 2 parks.
I'm going to write a more detailed write up below, if you just want the highlights skip to the bottom.
On Mon Oct 5 we went to Epcot. We were looking at houses in the morning, so we didn't get to the park until around 2:30. We decided to ride the Skyliner. There was no wait and we had the car to ourselves.
There was no line at International Gateway for temp check or security. Security is soooo nice now with the scanners. So fast and easy.
Epcot actually seemed pretty crowded with people on the walkways. We had a pretty decent time getting on attractions, though. The first thing we did was walk to America to have lunch at Regal Eagle since we'd never been.
We mobile ordered on our way over. The boyfriend and I shared the brisket sandwich and the mac n cheese. It was pretty good. We've lived in both Austin and KC (top BBQ towns), but even with the great BBQ we've had we still thought the brisket was good.
After eating we just made out way around World Showcase. We saw a couple character parades, which were actually pretty nice. We skipped Frozen because the line was a bit over an hour and it looked AWFUL to be standing out in the sun with a mask. We did get to see Anna and Elsa parade past their ride line, which was fun. Lots of little fan girls.
We wanted to go inside Mexico, and had about a 10 minute wait to get inside. Which was actually fine, we finally had some time to look at all the exhibits in the entryway.
Once inside we had about a 5 minute wait for the ride, it spilled out into the pavilion only because of social distancing in the line. Honestly, I'm all about the social distancing if it keeps people from standing on top of me. The only bad thing is when the lines spills outside into the hot sun. I'd probably just bring an umbrella for shade next time.
We sat in the front row of the boat and one other party of 2 sat in the back row.
After Mexico we walked by Test Track. The line said 25 minutes but we decided to bypass. We only had about 3.5 hours left until closing and we had other priorities. We cut through the temporary Mouse Gears.
We walked on Spaceship Earth (my fav ride). We walked on a seemingly abandoned Nemo. Then we spent some time in the aquarium looking at the manatees. It all seemed to be open except the shark play area.
Next up was the Land Pavilion. We waited 5 minutes for Living with the Land. The area where you go through the barn had no sound and it was actually kind of eerie.
Soarin had a 20 minute wait which was exactly correct. I think it would have been close to a walk on, but they load the ride so slowly. We actually were on C row 1, but they had us stand out in the main hallway and only come inside when everyone else was loaded.
I was sad they weren't selling the small plants outside the ride.
The Land pavilion was so bizarre, it was almost completely empty. Sunshine Seasons is always so crowded it was weird.
We wanted to do the American Adventure, but realized we were running out of time so walked onto Figment instead.
We were headed to our last minute dining reservation at Hacienda de San Angel. We had a bit of time to kill so stopped in the festival center and got a few drinks. I had the frozen smore which was delicious. We also got to listen a piano player. Our friend said she usually played in Rose and Crown and she was really good. She ended her set with 'We go on' from Illuminations.
We had just enough time to make it to our dinner reservation. We all really enjoyed our dinners. That food was excellent and I highly recommend. We'd made our reservation for 10 minutes before park close, so we walked out slowly with few other people around. We rode back out on the Skyliner.
It was a pretty successful day, we did every ride we wanted save the American Adventure show, and we were only there for a little under 5 hours. Making a dinner reservation at park close is def a good way to extend the early nights.
Tuesday October 6 we once again spent the morning house hunting. We arrived at MK parking lot at 1:25 and didn't get into the park until 1:55. It takes a little bit to arrive at the monorail when there are no trams. if you're not parked near the front.
We took the monorail and were able to walk right on and it left shortly after. We had our own car.
MK was def more crowded then Epcot the day before. The walkways were pretty crowded. This was a more discouraging day then the previous. Most of the lines were showing as 30+. We waited for Tiki Room first and it took forever because they clean in between shows and we just missed one.
All in all, we had about 4 hours in the park. It was def hotter Tuesday and the sun was in full view. I believe the temps were low 90s. We were dying with our masks. I had no idea my face could sweat that much. I'm sure if you live in Florida you get used to it, but we were def more uncomfortable in our masks in MK on Tue than Epcot on Mon. I think it's def direct sunlight though, it was pretty cloudy on Mon.
We did end up seeing 3 character pop up parades. I liked those a lot better than I thought I would. I also enjoyed how they played Boo To You with the Fab 5 characters in costume.
We were able to do: Tiki Room, HM (almost an hour wait), Peter Pan (20 minute wait), fries and drinks at Cosmic Ray's to visit Sunny Eclipse, COP (just had to wait one rotation), POTC (30 minute wait), then we just made it in line for Splash with 3 minutes to spare for park close.
We then went to the Wave for a last minute dinner reservation.
Some random observations:
We love character meets, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed what they had. The pop up parades were fun, and we also saw the Country Bears on the roof of their attraction, Chip and Dale on a roof of Fronteirland, and Jack Sparrow on his stage. At Epcot we also saw Pooh running around with a butterfly net (adorable).
Those masks were brutal in the direct sun. Like I said earlier, no idea my face could sweat so much. We were ok when the sun was behind clouds, but yeah, just brutal for us.
I felt very safe on Disney property. However, I think they need to keep both social distancing and masks going until a vaccine is provided. We did see the occasional person not wearing their masks properly, which was ok because they stayed back 6 feet in lines. I feel like having both measures is needed so one is a backup. If they remove the 6 feet social distancing, then all of a sudden it's a much bigger deal that people aren't wearing masks properly. I can see fights starting real quick in this scenario.
The days of empty parks are gone. Epcot and MK were both super busy on a non holiday Mon and Tues. I'm sure if maybe you go really early at opening you might have a good hour or two. But that was not the situation we were in. We had a better day at Epcot because we were able to get on more attractions faster. MK was pretty bad with lines, everything seemed at a minimum of half an hour. POTC and HM were closer to 45 minutes.
The only resort transportation we used were the Skyliner and the Monorail and we felt very safe on both.
Anyone have any questions that I might be able to help with?
I'm going to write a more detailed write up below, if you just want the highlights skip to the bottom.
On Mon Oct 5 we went to Epcot. We were looking at houses in the morning, so we didn't get to the park until around 2:30. We decided to ride the Skyliner. There was no wait and we had the car to ourselves.
There was no line at International Gateway for temp check or security. Security is soooo nice now with the scanners. So fast and easy.
Epcot actually seemed pretty crowded with people on the walkways. We had a pretty decent time getting on attractions, though. The first thing we did was walk to America to have lunch at Regal Eagle since we'd never been.
We mobile ordered on our way over. The boyfriend and I shared the brisket sandwich and the mac n cheese. It was pretty good. We've lived in both Austin and KC (top BBQ towns), but even with the great BBQ we've had we still thought the brisket was good.
After eating we just made out way around World Showcase. We saw a couple character parades, which were actually pretty nice. We skipped Frozen because the line was a bit over an hour and it looked AWFUL to be standing out in the sun with a mask. We did get to see Anna and Elsa parade past their ride line, which was fun. Lots of little fan girls.
We wanted to go inside Mexico, and had about a 10 minute wait to get inside. Which was actually fine, we finally had some time to look at all the exhibits in the entryway.
Once inside we had about a 5 minute wait for the ride, it spilled out into the pavilion only because of social distancing in the line. Honestly, I'm all about the social distancing if it keeps people from standing on top of me. The only bad thing is when the lines spills outside into the hot sun. I'd probably just bring an umbrella for shade next time.
We sat in the front row of the boat and one other party of 2 sat in the back row.
After Mexico we walked by Test Track. The line said 25 minutes but we decided to bypass. We only had about 3.5 hours left until closing and we had other priorities. We cut through the temporary Mouse Gears.
We walked on Spaceship Earth (my fav ride). We walked on a seemingly abandoned Nemo. Then we spent some time in the aquarium looking at the manatees. It all seemed to be open except the shark play area.
Next up was the Land Pavilion. We waited 5 minutes for Living with the Land. The area where you go through the barn had no sound and it was actually kind of eerie.
Soarin had a 20 minute wait which was exactly correct. I think it would have been close to a walk on, but they load the ride so slowly. We actually were on C row 1, but they had us stand out in the main hallway and only come inside when everyone else was loaded.
I was sad they weren't selling the small plants outside the ride.
The Land pavilion was so bizarre, it was almost completely empty. Sunshine Seasons is always so crowded it was weird.
We wanted to do the American Adventure, but realized we were running out of time so walked onto Figment instead.
We were headed to our last minute dining reservation at Hacienda de San Angel. We had a bit of time to kill so stopped in the festival center and got a few drinks. I had the frozen smore which was delicious. We also got to listen a piano player. Our friend said she usually played in Rose and Crown and she was really good. She ended her set with 'We go on' from Illuminations.
We had just enough time to make it to our dinner reservation. We all really enjoyed our dinners. That food was excellent and I highly recommend. We'd made our reservation for 10 minutes before park close, so we walked out slowly with few other people around. We rode back out on the Skyliner.
It was a pretty successful day, we did every ride we wanted save the American Adventure show, and we were only there for a little under 5 hours. Making a dinner reservation at park close is def a good way to extend the early nights.
Tuesday October 6 we once again spent the morning house hunting. We arrived at MK parking lot at 1:25 and didn't get into the park until 1:55. It takes a little bit to arrive at the monorail when there are no trams. if you're not parked near the front.
We took the monorail and were able to walk right on and it left shortly after. We had our own car.
MK was def more crowded then Epcot the day before. The walkways were pretty crowded. This was a more discouraging day then the previous. Most of the lines were showing as 30+. We waited for Tiki Room first and it took forever because they clean in between shows and we just missed one.
All in all, we had about 4 hours in the park. It was def hotter Tuesday and the sun was in full view. I believe the temps were low 90s. We were dying with our masks. I had no idea my face could sweat that much. I'm sure if you live in Florida you get used to it, but we were def more uncomfortable in our masks in MK on Tue than Epcot on Mon. I think it's def direct sunlight though, it was pretty cloudy on Mon.
We did end up seeing 3 character pop up parades. I liked those a lot better than I thought I would. I also enjoyed how they played Boo To You with the Fab 5 characters in costume.
We were able to do: Tiki Room, HM (almost an hour wait), Peter Pan (20 minute wait), fries and drinks at Cosmic Ray's to visit Sunny Eclipse, COP (just had to wait one rotation), POTC (30 minute wait), then we just made it in line for Splash with 3 minutes to spare for park close.
We then went to the Wave for a last minute dinner reservation.
Some random observations:
We love character meets, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed what they had. The pop up parades were fun, and we also saw the Country Bears on the roof of their attraction, Chip and Dale on a roof of Fronteirland, and Jack Sparrow on his stage. At Epcot we also saw Pooh running around with a butterfly net (adorable).
Those masks were brutal in the direct sun. Like I said earlier, no idea my face could sweat so much. We were ok when the sun was behind clouds, but yeah, just brutal for us.
I felt very safe on Disney property. However, I think they need to keep both social distancing and masks going until a vaccine is provided. We did see the occasional person not wearing their masks properly, which was ok because they stayed back 6 feet in lines. I feel like having both measures is needed so one is a backup. If they remove the 6 feet social distancing, then all of a sudden it's a much bigger deal that people aren't wearing masks properly. I can see fights starting real quick in this scenario.
The days of empty parks are gone. Epcot and MK were both super busy on a non holiday Mon and Tues. I'm sure if maybe you go really early at opening you might have a good hour or two. But that was not the situation we were in. We had a better day at Epcot because we were able to get on more attractions faster. MK was pretty bad with lines, everything seemed at a minimum of half an hour. POTC and HM were closer to 45 minutes.
The only resort transportation we used were the Skyliner and the Monorail and we felt very safe on both.
Anyone have any questions that I might be able to help with?
melmel
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 20, 2004
We are back now, it definitely feels like they've increased capacity. We did Saturday to Saturday, yesterday in MK seemed much more crowded than it had on Sunday. Lines were running longer and walkways were much more crowded. There really weren't many empty areas to get away in adventureland. Pirates started at the gift shop and ran all the way to Splash and back to Jungle (all in direct sun), it stated 60 but wasn't really moving much, so we ended up giving up on it. Yesterday was also the first time we encountered sharing monorail cars, before that it was like skyliner with only one party per car even at closing. But now it's one family per side, you're probably still 6 feet apart but it felt a little less comfortable.
I also noticed later in the week as the heat got more oppressive proper mask wearing decinded. Lots more nose popping, chin supports, and not making kids wear them at all. When CMs noticed they were quick with reminders and enforcement, however they can't watch everyone. It was still probably 80-85% proper wearing, and I still overall felt safe.
On Thursday I was considering trying to bring the kids down next month while it was still slow, but yesterday sealed not going again until things are back to "normal". Less magic with less people is fine but less magic with more people isn't worth paying full price.
I also noticed later in the week as the heat got more oppressive proper mask wearing decinded. Lots more nose popping, chin supports, and not making kids wear them at all. When CMs noticed they were quick with reminders and enforcement, however they can't watch everyone. It was still probably 80-85% proper wearing, and I still overall felt safe.
On Thursday I was considering trying to bring the kids down next month while it was still slow, but yesterday sealed not going again until things are back to "normal". Less magic with less people is fine but less magic with more people isn't worth paying full price.
momimouse27
Just a Big Kid!
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2005
We just returned from our trip on 10/3, and I thought I'd give a few thoughts on our experiences, and what we did and didn't like. Hope this helps someone else.
Parks-We only had one day during the weekend at a park. Our first park day was Epcot on a Sunday. We later went back to Epcot on a Thursday. It was noticeably busier on Sunday. Lines were still fairly quick even on a Sunday, but the F&W had the WS slammed. On Thursday, it was so slow there that we walked on to Soarin' multiple times with no wait. It was great. DHS was busy, as we expected it would be. The day we went(9/28) it poured rain, but we enjoyed our visit anyway. My son and I waited 45 minutes(posted time was 90) in the pouring rain for MMRR and it was so worth it!! We were in the park at opening and able to snag ROTR boarding group #17 and we were in line by 11:30. Later my husband got on Smuggler's Run alone, waited 20 minutes and piloted the Falcon on his own. He said it was awesome! AK was so slow that everything was either 15-20 minute wait or walk on, even FOP. MK....oh, boy. MK is not open long enough. We have been so many times that missing a few rides isn't a big deal. But we've always been able to just go back to what we missed and ride again. We arrived at MK at about 10:00. We are not morning people, and so that's good for us. The lines were really not so bad, they look awful but move quickly and since they're spread out they just look terrible. The longest lines we had were in were HM and POTC. But closing at 6pm really sucked. I felt like I wasn't able to just enjoy being in MK, because we were trying to ride what we could. And my favorite time in MK is night time, it's so beautiful and I really missed that. We visited on a Wednesday.
Resort-We stayed in a 2 br AKL Kidani. It was awesome! I'm sure we missed some ambience with many of the cast members from Africa gone, but this was our first visit, so couldn't gauge that. Pool was great, not very crowded, and very good spacing as far as distancing is concerned. We would for sure stay here again.
Disney Springs-We were there on a Saturday, our first night. There was very little social distancing. But, I saw very few people who weren't properly wearing a mask. The stores were better, just because they were controlling how many people were in at one time. We went back on Wednesday after MK closed and it was much much slower. Also went on Tuesday afternoon, and it was very slow. We walked into every store, including WOD, with no wait.
Food: I'll list where we ate and my thoughts. We sat down at TS alot in the parks, because the places we chose had foods that my son would eat. We only had to mobile order once, and that was at Cosmic Ray's. It worked fine, but it took a while to figure out how to do it...we had a few glitches.
Terralina's- It was fine. Food was pretty good, service was awesome.
Via Napoli lunch-It was good. Service was great as usual, and we had pizza. Overpriced(well, it is Disney) but it was very good.
Sci Fi Dine in-We always enjoy it . Honestly, we felt a little bit rushed here. I get they need people to move along, but if I'm paying that much for a burger and fries,
then I'm going to take my time and enjoy it.
Edison-We went there after DHS for dinner. The service was very good, but I thought the food was overpriced for what it was. Out of everywhere we ate, their menu was easily the most
limited. Very, very limited and expensive. I think I would go back, but only after the restrictions are lifted. Not having the entertainment just made it fall flat.
Planet Hollywood-One of our best meals this trip. Food was great, service was outstanding, and we really enjoyed the atmosphere.
Homecomin'- Our other best meal of the trip. The food here is fantastic! The service was also very good. We took home some of our food and put it in the fridge to eat later, because
there is so much. Awesome in every way.
Garden Grill-Food was great as usual. Disappointed to hear that they had gotten rid of their fryer, so no more fries or nuggets, which I counted on. Thankfully, my usually picky son
actually loved the turkey and macaroni. We visited on the day after the 28,000 layoff news from Disney, and you could feel it. Our waiter was worried, he had been there many years and he was concerned about the future of Disney in general. I feel terrible for all the CM's especially those who have been there so long.
Final Note-I never felt unsafe at Disney. I will say I'm not overly paranoid about Coronavirus, although I am cautious. Trying to look at it from the other side, though, I think it was a very safe environment. I would put mask compliance at about 90%. If you need a place to unwind, take off the mask and rest, the two very best relaxation stations are easily SW Launch Bay at HS and Akershus in Norway at Epcot. Loved the character cavalcades and I would say weekdays are so much better than weekends....go during weekdays!! Edited to add...suprisingly, my mask only bothered me a few times, mostly in the hottest part of the day. When it was raining or cloudy, I forgot about it. The Pomchies mask...awesome! Easily the best one I've used.
Parks-We only had one day during the weekend at a park. Our first park day was Epcot on a Sunday. We later went back to Epcot on a Thursday. It was noticeably busier on Sunday. Lines were still fairly quick even on a Sunday, but the F&W had the WS slammed. On Thursday, it was so slow there that we walked on to Soarin' multiple times with no wait. It was great. DHS was busy, as we expected it would be. The day we went(9/28) it poured rain, but we enjoyed our visit anyway. My son and I waited 45 minutes(posted time was 90) in the pouring rain for MMRR and it was so worth it!! We were in the park at opening and able to snag ROTR boarding group #17 and we were in line by 11:30. Later my husband got on Smuggler's Run alone, waited 20 minutes and piloted the Falcon on his own. He said it was awesome! AK was so slow that everything was either 15-20 minute wait or walk on, even FOP. MK....oh, boy. MK is not open long enough. We have been so many times that missing a few rides isn't a big deal. But we've always been able to just go back to what we missed and ride again. We arrived at MK at about 10:00. We are not morning people, and so that's good for us. The lines were really not so bad, they look awful but move quickly and since they're spread out they just look terrible. The longest lines we had were in were HM and POTC. But closing at 6pm really sucked. I felt like I wasn't able to just enjoy being in MK, because we were trying to ride what we could. And my favorite time in MK is night time, it's so beautiful and I really missed that. We visited on a Wednesday.
Resort-We stayed in a 2 br AKL Kidani. It was awesome! I'm sure we missed some ambience with many of the cast members from Africa gone, but this was our first visit, so couldn't gauge that. Pool was great, not very crowded, and very good spacing as far as distancing is concerned. We would for sure stay here again.
Disney Springs-We were there on a Saturday, our first night. There was very little social distancing. But, I saw very few people who weren't properly wearing a mask. The stores were better, just because they were controlling how many people were in at one time. We went back on Wednesday after MK closed and it was much much slower. Also went on Tuesday afternoon, and it was very slow. We walked into every store, including WOD, with no wait.
Food: I'll list where we ate and my thoughts. We sat down at TS alot in the parks, because the places we chose had foods that my son would eat. We only had to mobile order once, and that was at Cosmic Ray's. It worked fine, but it took a while to figure out how to do it...we had a few glitches.
Terralina's- It was fine. Food was pretty good, service was awesome.
Via Napoli lunch-It was good. Service was great as usual, and we had pizza. Overpriced(well, it is Disney) but it was very good.
Sci Fi Dine in-We always enjoy it . Honestly, we felt a little bit rushed here. I get they need people to move along, but if I'm paying that much for a burger and fries,
then I'm going to take my time and enjoy it.
Edison-We went there after DHS for dinner. The service was very good, but I thought the food was overpriced for what it was. Out of everywhere we ate, their menu was easily the most
limited. Very, very limited and expensive. I think I would go back, but only after the restrictions are lifted. Not having the entertainment just made it fall flat.
Planet Hollywood-One of our best meals this trip. Food was great, service was outstanding, and we really enjoyed the atmosphere.
Homecomin'- Our other best meal of the trip. The food here is fantastic! The service was also very good. We took home some of our food and put it in the fridge to eat later, because
there is so much. Awesome in every way.
Garden Grill-Food was great as usual. Disappointed to hear that they had gotten rid of their fryer, so no more fries or nuggets, which I counted on. Thankfully, my usually picky son
actually loved the turkey and macaroni. We visited on the day after the 28,000 layoff news from Disney, and you could feel it. Our waiter was worried, he had been there many years and he was concerned about the future of Disney in general. I feel terrible for all the CM's especially those who have been there so long.
Final Note-I never felt unsafe at Disney. I will say I'm not overly paranoid about Coronavirus, although I am cautious. Trying to look at it from the other side, though, I think it was a very safe environment. I would put mask compliance at about 90%. If you need a place to unwind, take off the mask and rest, the two very best relaxation stations are easily SW Launch Bay at HS and Akershus in Norway at Epcot. Loved the character cavalcades and I would say weekdays are so much better than weekends....go during weekdays!! Edited to add...suprisingly, my mask only bothered me a few times, mostly in the hottest part of the day. When it was raining or cloudy, I forgot about it. The Pomchies mask...awesome! Easily the best one I've used.
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soniam
Wooden leg named Smith...
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2012
It is amazing how much your face can sweat. I learned very early that I didn't need any face lotion with the mask. I agree about the masks and social distancing; we need both. Glad you liked the characters. I wasn't sure how you would like it see how big you guys are on characters. We actually really enjoyed it too. It felt more like when I was a kid or Disneyland. Plus, it was actually pretty easy to see most of the time without having to be right next to other people. Although, that was July. Glad you made it to the parks. I wasn't sure if you would get a chance.
nkereina
Last chance to lose your keys.
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2009
Has anyone tried to book or change a park pass reservation during their trip while staying onsite? I’m curious what availability looks like for onsite guests on short notice, especially for DHS. I see availability is booked for DHS for offsite this week.
The Expert
Has been to every Disney park in the world
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2009
If you're in a studio, you'll have disposable items. One bedroom and larger have real dishes, glasses and cookware. The same as pre-Covid.
sara_s
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2017
Has anyone ventured to DS on non-weekends? Wondering if we can hop over there for an early lunch one day on a Monday without feeling like it's dodgy with non mask-wearers. I know they put up signs warning about getting kicked out for not complying, but not sure if they're actually enforcing it.
mickeyfanachey1999
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2014
We were at WDW for a short fall break trip last week. Here is some data regarding posted/actual wait times:
Saturday 10-3 at DAK we arrived just after 8:30
FOP 75/76
NRJ 50/42
KS 25/WO
EE 45/17
Dinosaur 45/26
Dinosaur again 50/23
TTBAB 15/6
FOP 60/58
Sunday 10-4 at MK we arrived just after 1:00
JK 40/20
POTC 50/32
BTMRR 45/32
HM 55/31
7DMT 55/37
POOH 5/4
7DMT 45/36
Monday 10-5 at DHS we arrived at 9:15
MMRR 105/79
TSMM 40/27
SDD 80/55
AS2 30/23
A couple of notes about lines:
FOP the line started just short of FOTLK.
POTC the line started in Frontierland, went past POTC almost to JK and then came back around.
MMRR the line was forming near Sunset BLVD at opening and by the time they had it snaked around the way they wanted to they announced that no one else could enter the queue as there was no more space to queue up.
While we waited for MMRR the line for SDD reached the animation courtyard entrance.
BTMRR the line started by Big Al's snack cart.
The line lengths were intimidating to look at but all were shorted than posted.
Saturday 10-3 at DAK we arrived just after 8:30
FOP 75/76
NRJ 50/42
KS 25/WO
EE 45/17
Dinosaur 45/26
Dinosaur again 50/23
TTBAB 15/6
FOP 60/58
Sunday 10-4 at MK we arrived just after 1:00
JK 40/20
POTC 50/32
BTMRR 45/32
HM 55/31
7DMT 55/37
POOH 5/4
7DMT 45/36
Monday 10-5 at DHS we arrived at 9:15
MMRR 105/79
TSMM 40/27
SDD 80/55
AS2 30/23
A couple of notes about lines:
FOP the line started just short of FOTLK.
POTC the line started in Frontierland, went past POTC almost to JK and then came back around.
MMRR the line was forming near Sunset BLVD at opening and by the time they had it snaked around the way they wanted to they announced that no one else could enter the queue as there was no more space to queue up.
While we waited for MMRR the line for SDD reached the animation courtyard entrance.
BTMRR the line started by Big Al's snack cart.
The line lengths were intimidating to look at but all were shorted than posted.
MomOTwins
The Mommy Fairy
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2018
DHS is fully booked this week across all three buckets--WDW resort guests, offsite ticketholders, and APs. Always possible they would drop more availability but no guarantees.
djmeredith
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2005
Went to AK this morning. Scheduled open at 7:00 am. We got there about 7:15. Walked straight through temp and security. FOP posted 65 so we headed straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris and got there only to find out it wasn’t open until 8:00. I noticed it didn’t have a wait time showing but I didn’t think anything of it, oh well.
Went back to Pandora because Navi RJ was posted 25. By the time we got there it was posted at 35 but took us 20, line constantly moving. Headed to Everest which was posted about 35 but took 20. Got right back in line with wait posted 30 but we basically walked straight through the line the second time. Headed to Kali which was posted 10. Walk on except they stopped right as we got there for cleaning. We waited about 10 mins or less. Got one good splash but not soaked. Walked through the Jungle Trek. We then headed back to KS which was posted 40. It took 20 in a steady moving line. Did Gorilla Falls and saw the baby who was very active as were the other females. By this time it was almost 11:00 so we decided to leave and get lunch, swim and then head back. Currently sitting at the pool relaxing while the kids play.
Social Distancing is basically non existent except in the lines where people were respectful of the markers. People aren’t being rude, it’s just busy. Masks weren’t as bad as I thought but we left before it got really hot. The fans in the line helped a lot. But It’s a nice break being massless outside by the pool! Headed back to AK in a bit to finish up what we missed.
Went back to Pandora because Navi RJ was posted 25. By the time we got there it was posted at 35 but took us 20, line constantly moving. Headed to Everest which was posted about 35 but took 20. Got right back in line with wait posted 30 but we basically walked straight through the line the second time. Headed to Kali which was posted 10. Walk on except they stopped right as we got there for cleaning. We waited about 10 mins or less. Got one good splash but not soaked. Walked through the Jungle Trek. We then headed back to KS which was posted 40. It took 20 in a steady moving line. Did Gorilla Falls and saw the baby who was very active as were the other females. By this time it was almost 11:00 so we decided to leave and get lunch, swim and then head back. Currently sitting at the pool relaxing while the kids play.
Social Distancing is basically non existent except in the lines where people were respectful of the markers. People aren’t being rude, it’s just busy. Masks weren’t as bad as I thought but we left before it got really hot. The fans in the line helped a lot. But It’s a nice break being massless outside by the pool! Headed back to AK in a bit to finish up what we missed.
Shellyred8
I'd rather be at Disney
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2016
Yacht Club's Market Place is open and they have hot breakfast sandwiches.
Spazz2k
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2019
Just back from another quick weekend. 2 nights at CBR and 1 night at Wilderness Cabin...I know strange combo, but we decided to stay an extra night on Saturday. Just a few random things and thoughts....
CBR actually did not seem too busy this time, both wife and I thought the pool was rather quiet for a Friday and Saturday.
Took our godson over to the Boardwalk via the Skyliner on Friday morning and walked over to show him the clown pool...only I forgot the slide is being redone, so he didn't get to see it. The pool was empty...and the noise from the refurb was pretty loud....that would drive me crazy. Walked around to swan and back up past Yacht and Beach and back on Skyliner.
Friday night we went over to Disney Springs for dinner, Lego store and some shopping....1st time we have seen surface parking open...so gladly did that. I don't think many people know it is open, as the parking lot was empty on the way in as well as when we left...was very easy and for us.
Saturday we started at the side pool in the preferred section at CBR, then over to the main pool...pretty quiet. My godson who is 4 found something in the pool....I told the lifeguard...they had to close the pool...think #2. So pool closed for about 40 mins or so.
Saturday around 1:00 we switched to the cabins....Wow we haven't seen the Wilderness Campgrounds that busy in forever....the place was packed. The quiet pool was even packed to the max which you hardly ever see....the cabin loops were packed also. Lot of people everywhere...main pool was also busy.
No parks, but lots and lots of pool time with the little guy....which is always a great time.
CBR actually did not seem too busy this time, both wife and I thought the pool was rather quiet for a Friday and Saturday.
Took our godson over to the Boardwalk via the Skyliner on Friday morning and walked over to show him the clown pool...only I forgot the slide is being redone, so he didn't get to see it. The pool was empty...and the noise from the refurb was pretty loud....that would drive me crazy. Walked around to swan and back up past Yacht and Beach and back on Skyliner.
Friday night we went over to Disney Springs for dinner, Lego store and some shopping....1st time we have seen surface parking open...so gladly did that. I don't think many people know it is open, as the parking lot was empty on the way in as well as when we left...was very easy and for us.
Saturday we started at the side pool in the preferred section at CBR, then over to the main pool...pretty quiet. My godson who is 4 found something in the pool....I told the lifeguard...they had to close the pool...think #2. So pool closed for about 40 mins or so.
Saturday around 1:00 we switched to the cabins....Wow we haven't seen the Wilderness Campgrounds that busy in forever....the place was packed. The quiet pool was even packed to the max which you hardly ever see....the cabin loops were packed also. Lot of people everywhere...main pool was also busy.
No parks, but lots and lots of pool time with the little guy....which is always a great time.
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