Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[Ohiostatefan606]

After lunch we did the Disney Visa photopass. They dropped in some storm troopers and another character. We then went back to our room for a break. We had dinner reservations at Hollywood and Vine at park closing time. We tried to convince our daughter to do more rides, but she wasn't having it, didn't even want the frozen musical, so we did the Mickey shorts theater and Muppets before walking around GE at night. H&V dinner was really good and we loved the character interactions. We did several character dinners and they were all great. Sure they don't come right to your table, but they come close enough and are very easy to get pix of, though not always with.

Oh my goodness, it sounded like a wonderful trip, happy belated birthday

I am so glad I read all the details. I am wondering about the Disney Visa photopass. I had assumed it was a no-go since there aren't any other character spots. Was it real characters? I mean for me, Storm troopers ARE a character! Now I wonder about the Visa spot at Epcot.

 

[JFox]

Peeps! I keep hearing FastPass being mentioned by guests. Not asking what it is but where to go to check in. I heard it first at AK then today at EPCOT.

 

[yulilin3]

Oh my goodness, it sounded like a wonderful trip, happy belated birthday

I am so glad I read all the details. I am wondering about the Disney Visa photopass. I had assumed it was a no-go since there aren't any other character spots. Was it real characters? I mean for me, Storm troopers ARE a character! Now I wonder about the Visa spot at Epcot.

They're virtually put in. Both visa spots are open

 

[CarolynFH]

Oh my goodness, it sounded like a wonderful trip, happy belated birthday

I am so glad I read all the details. I am wondering about the Disney Visa photopass. I had assumed it was a no-go since there aren't any other character spots. Was it real characters? I mean for me, Storm troopers ARE a character! Now I wonder about the Visa spot at Epcot.

No, the Disney Visa shoot at DHS drops the characters in digitally. We had shots with stormtroopers and other shots with the droid from Rogue One (forgot his name).

 

[yulilin3]

Peeps! I keep hearing FastPass being mentioned by guests. Not asking what it is but where to go to check in. I heard it first at AK then today at EPCOT.

People get a fp if they're using DAS, rider swap, guest recovery, club 33

 

[GBRforWDW]

Oh my goodness, it sounded like a wonderful trip, happy belated birthday

I am so glad I read all the details. I am wondering about the Disney Visa photopass. I had assumed it was a no-go since there aren't any other character spots. Was it real characters? I mean for me, Storm troopers ARE a character! Now I wonder about the Visa spot at Epcot.

Others have answered, but yes, still a cool experience. We didn't get to pick the characters they added, but I'm sure if you ask nicely, they'll be sure to get some storm troopers for you! Also, if you're building a droid or lightsaber, definitely do that before going to the photo spot, makes it better.

 

[chicagoshannon]

where is the Visa spot at DHS?

 

[yulilin3]

where is the Visa spot at DHS?

Launch bay

 

[keke5656]

People get a fp if they're using DAS, rider swap, guest recovery, club 33

They don't get a fast pass, they get a return time and sometimes enter through the fast pass line. Its like waiting in a 'virtual line' vs physical.

 

[GBRforWDW]

where is the Visa spot at DHS?

When we walked into the launch bay open air hallway right under the launch bay sign, there were 2 employees at a desk. I just said, where do we go for the Disney Visa photopass and they said right here! Make sure you have the card on you though otherwise they may not do the pictures.

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

We did the photo pass in Epcot in October and had a blast - and making the cast members laugh and have fun made it all the more fun for us. SO, if you have a VISA, pop in for the laughs!

 

[yulilin3]

They don't get a fast pass, they get a return time and sometimes enter through the fast pass line. Its like waiting in a 'virtual line' vs physical.

I know but people see them going through the fp and think it's a fp. I was just answering the question in the simplest terms possible

 

[keke5656]

I know but people see them going through the fp and think it's a fp. I was just answering the question in the simplest terms possible

It is confusing!

 

[keke5656]

Does anyone know if Lyft/uber is still having the front seat empty? If so we would have to upgrade every time to a bigger car.

 

[mnmhouston]

Heading out mid-February. I have a couple of questions, 1. What entertainment is still being offered i.e. parades, fireworks, etc.? 2. I read somewhere that hours sometimes get extended based on crowd levels. How often does this happen and how likely is it at Epcot and Magic Kingdom?

 

[maryj11]

I do. We were there Saturday [1/9], Monday [1/11], and Tuesday [1/12]. We walked from BCV, left at 7:50 arrived at 8:10, temp check, security and MB scan and were in at 8:15. We headed to MMRR on Saturday and were on by 8:40. We headed over to SDD and waited 20 minutes. We did not get a BG on Saturday. Monday we got BG18. We left the same time and hit SDD around 8:30. Tuesday we got BG 18 again, entered the same time, SDD was down. We did TSMM, headed to TOT and did MMRR around 9:30 before our BG was called. When we came out of TSMM around 8:45, SDD was still down but people were lining up.

Sorry for the long play-by-play but to answer your question, for a 9:00 HS opening gates were open by 8:10.

I’m debating on which day to make park reservations and have a question. Did you notice if any of the days you went to HS were less crowded or did they all seem the same?

 

[GBRforWDW]

Heading out mid-February. I have a couple of questions, 1. What entertainment is still being offered i.e. parades, fireworks, etc.? 2. I read somewhere that hours sometimes get extended based on crowd levels. How often does this happen and how likely is it at Epcot and Magic Kingdom?

Instead of parades, they have character cavalcades throughout the day. It's basically 1 or 2 cars with a few different characters. Each park has something different. No fireworks at the end of the night, but several rides have animated fireworks, not the same as Cinderella castle, but, If can still be fun if you allow it. Shows right now are limited to DHS. They have the Frozen sing along and Disney Junior dance party and that's about it.

 

[yulilin3]

Heading out mid-February. I have a couple of questions, 1. What entertainment is still being offered i.e. parades, fireworks, etc.? 2. I read somewhere that hours sometimes get extended based on crowd levels. How often does this happen and how likely is it at Epcot and Magic Kingdom?

Go on mde and you can filter by park and entertainment/ attraction to see what's operating.
As far as hours they've been changing up to 3 weeks prior. It could or couldn't happen for your trip

 

[GBRforWDW]

I’m debating on which day to make park reservations and have a question. Did you notice if any of the days you went to HS were less crowded or did they all seem the same?

Most will say choose a weekend day to go to DHS because the weekend crowds versus week day crowds are a lot different in the other parks, whereas if DHS has a difference, it's minimal. That being said, first two hours and last couple hours at DHS on Friday and Sunday when we went were still very light on crowds.

 

[sethschroeder]

Does anyone know if Lyft/uber is still having the front seat empty? If so we would have to upgrade every time to a bigger car.

I would say go based on capacity in app everyone should have a seat belt. No clue about front seats.