Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[yulilin3]

yes.

That's it. It opens at 11

 

[MomOTwins]

Could someone who has been recently please advise - we want to dine at the bar at Narcoossee’s at the Grand Floridian. We always prefer to sit at the bar there (Sergio is the best bartender ever!), and pre-covid had no issues getting in. Will the guard let us into the resort without proof of an ADR? If I show my tables in wonderland card, would that work? We’d be Ubering over...I’ve read conflicting info about getting into resorts for dining. Thanks!

I wouldn't count on it--we were staying at GF last fall and they were very strict at the gate about only letting in hotel guests (they scanned our magic band) or guests with ADRs. We saw them turning back people in cars at the gate several times. It is true at all hotels now but I think especially with the proximity to MK they don't want people using it as a shortcut to the parks.

Of course, you could always go to TTC and take the monorail to GF.

But I will say, not sure that with the limited seating walking up to the bar is an option. They are seating the tables up near the bar for people with ADRs (that's where we were placed) and then spacing out bar guests to leave 6 feet between them and the people at tables. The result was there seemed to be only 3 or 4 people who could sit at the bar at a time.

Enchanted Rose seemed to have a lot more bar seating available. That's where we went when we wanted a drink and a quick bite.

 

[Leigh L]

I didn't even think about the lack of the vehicles on Main Street - but there was a certain buzz missing in the Main St. area and I'd bet the vehicles was a part of that for us!

We went to MK, I think it was MLK day, and about 8:30 walking in. There was no music, no CMs along Main Street or anything. It wasn't until we hit Tomorrowland that music popped on. Eeriest thing. We arrived even earlier the following Saturday and everything was normal that day.

 

[yulilin3]

Where can I find a list of DS stores that will recognize the AP 30% discount that begins today?

They updated the site with some more info

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passholder-program/specials/?&CMP={{campaign.name}}{{adset.name}}|{{ad.name}}&dclid=CPHQy_LSy-4CFWvoKAUdLYIP_A

 

[TNickell27]

Ubers can drop people off at Swan & Dolphin no problem.

Don't have to worry about jaywalking from the Speedway.

how long is the walk from Swan to DHS? What time would we need to get dropped off there to be in line for early entry? thinking about doing this on thursday!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

how long is the walk from Swan to DHS? What time would we need to get dropped off there to be in line for early entry? thinking about doing this on thursday!

If you're dropped at the Swan you can take the pathway on the opposite side of the canal and then cross the bridge at Buena Vista Dr. GoogleMaps will say a 15 minute walk to the park entrance, but I think most people walk a little faster than that (especially with the morning excitement!)

 

[armerida]

I wouldn't count on it--we were staying at GF last fall and they were very strict at the gate about only letting in hotel guests (they scanned our magic band) or guests with ADRs. We saw them turning back people in cars at the gate several times. It is true at all hotels now but I think especially with the proximity to MK they don't want people using it as a shortcut to the parks.

Of course, you could always go to TTC and take the monorail to GF.

But I will say, not sure that with the limited seating walking up to the bar is an option. They are seating the tables up near the bar for people with ADRs (that's where we were placed) and then spacing out bar guests to leave 6 feet between them and the people at tables. The result was there seemed to be only 3 or 4 people who could sit at the bar at a time.

Enchanted Rose seemed to have a lot more bar seating available. That's where we went when we wanted a drink and a quick bite.

Thanks for the info, that’s what I worried about. I’ll set up an ADR finder and if we can’t get one, will do the TTC/monorail approach, thanks for the suggestion!

 

[armerida]

If you're dropped at the Swan you can take the pathway on the opposite side of the canal and then cross the bridge at Buena Vista Dr. GoogleMaps will say a 15 minute walk to the park entrance, but I think most people walk a little faster than that (especially with the morning excitement!)

View attachment 553854

Ooh! How did I not realize there was a path on the Swan side?! We always walk towards the boardwalk to get the path, but that looks quicker. Do you exit out the front and then head over by the buses to pick it up?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Ooh! How did I not realize there was a path on the Swan side?! We always walk towards the boardwalk to get the path, but that looks quicker. Do you exit out the front and then head over by the buses to pick it up?

I haven't personally walked it because our stairs spit us out by the BW bridge so we just went that way. But I had researched it before the trip - you do pick up this path past the bus shelter, right by the parking lot.

IF you have an Uber dropping you off, perhaps you can even get them to just stop by the path and drop you right there.... Honestly I have no idea how Uber works (yes I've NEVER been in an Uber) so can they do that? Haha!

 

[Sbunit81]

Hi everyone, could use some advise from people who've recently been to the resort. My family and I just put together a very spur of the moment trip to Orlando for the week of President's week (15-20th). instead of staying at Disney we have decided to change things up and stay at Universal (mainly because we are waiting for Disney to "return to as close to normal" as possible before we invest into Disney prices). I plan on visiting Disney on two separate days however:

Day One (a Wednesday): Planning to take the boys early morning to Animal Kingdom to get on Flight of Passage, Everest, Dinosaur and the Safari rid. Hoping to finish all this before 2pm in hopes of hopping over to the Magic Kingdom and getting them on the Mine Train. In regards to the Magic Kingdom our sole goal is to get on the Mine train, anything else is gravy. Is it possible to accomplish our goals in Animal Kingdom by 2pm if not sooner? How long can I realistically expect to wait on line for the Mine train on A Wednesday afternoon (It is what it is with the wait, just trying to gauge what to expect)?

Day Two (A Friday): Praying to get an early boarding pass for Rise and spending the day at Hollywood Studios. What are the general wait times for Slinky dog and Millennium Falcon? If we manage to finish by midday and decide to hop over to Epcot to get on TT, what's the general wait for TT? In regards to dining at Epcot, are walk-ins accommodated (with a wait of course) or is it strictly reservations only these days?

I have been to Disney several times in the past and I would consider myself a very seasoned veteran, However I feel totally lost with this trip and have no idea what to expect or how to maneuver/strategize my two days there. I have a 4 year old (turning 5 tomorrow!) and a 7 year old and we were suppose to go for a week long stay this past December but because of Covid we canceled that trip as we don't think our expectations would be met. This spur of the moment trip is with the sole goal of having our now 5 year old experience all these major rides/attractions before he starts to grow out of his innocent imagination (his brother was able to get on almost all these rides already). Otherwise, we probably wouldn't even be coming to Disney until it is functioning closer to pre-pandemic times. So, the stress factor is even higher than usual now because I want my 5 year old to experience Disney from a 5 year old's perspective before it's too late (if that makes sense). Thanks

 

[NashvilleMama]

Hi everyone, could use some advise from people who've recently been to the resort. My family and I just put together a very spur of the moment trip to Orlando for the week of President's week (15-20th). instead of staying at Disney we have decided to change things up and stay at Universal (mainly because we are waiting for Disney to "return to as close to normal" as possible before we invest into Disney prices). I plan on visiting Disney on two separate days however:

Day One (a Wednesday): Planning to take the boys early morning to Animal Kingdom to get on Flight of Passage, Everest, Dinosaur and the Safari rid. Hoping to finish all this before 2pm in hopes of hopping over to the Magic Kingdom and getting them on the Mine Train. In regards to the Magic Kingdom our sole goal is to get on the Mine train, anything else is gravy. Is it possible to accomplish our goals in Animal Kingdom by 2pm if not sooner? How long can I realistically expect to wait on line for the Mine train on A Wednesday afternoon (It is what it is with the wait, just trying to gauge what to expect)?

Day Two (A Friday): Praying to get an early boarding pass for Rise and spending the day at Hollywood Studios. What are the general wait times for Slinky dog and Millennium Falcon? If we manage to finish by midday and decide to hop over to Epcot to get on TT, what's the general wait for TT? In regards to dining at Epcot, are walk-ins accommodated (with a wait of course) or is it strictly reservations only these days?

I have been to Disney several times in the past and I would consider myself a very seasoned veteran, However I feel totally lost with this trip and have no idea what to expect or how to maneuver/strategize my two days there. I have a 4 year old (turning 5 tomorrow!) and a 7 year old and we were suppose to go for a week long stay this past December but because of Covid we canceled that trip as we don't think our expectations would be met. This spur of the moment trip is with the sole goal of having our now 5 year old experience all these major rides/attractions before he starts to grow out of his innocent imagination (his brother was able to get on almost all these rides already). Otherwise, we probably wouldn't even be coming to Disney until it is functioning closer to pre-pandemic times. So, the stress factor is even higher than usual now because I want my 5 year old to experience Disney from a 5 year old's perspective before it's too late (if that makes sense). Thanks

I'd go back a few pages on this thread and read a bunch of the recent reports. Your key factor will be getting there as early as possible, with the parks generally opening 45 mins - 1 hour before the official park opening time. You can knock out a lot in those first few hours!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Thanks

So you are visiting during what will likely be a BUSY week. So recent experiences and wait times might not be as relevant since that week is the collision of Valentine's Day, President's Day and Mardi Gras.

I think that if you arrive prior to park opening at Animal Kingdom (I'd want to be there 30-45+ minutes before the posted opening time), then you'll have no problem accomplishing all of that WELL before 2pm. If you show up at 7am and the park opens "officially" at 8; You might have it all done by 9am to be honest and could even mix in Everest or some other rides. On this past Sat we showed up to the park before 7:15 am and proceeded to do FoP, Navi River, Everest 3x, and Safari by 9:15am. Had we showed up at 8:30 instead, I think it would've taken us almost 5 hours to accomplish that exact same list of rides.

I'd say 7DMT is going to be somewhere between a 45-75 minute wait but that's just my guess.

On your DHS day, again, if you're able to arrive SUPER early, you'll find that you can probably ride SDD and MFSR before the park even officially opens. If you hop to Epcot you'll probably be looking at 45-70 mins posted for test track then.

If you are NOT planning to arrive early then throw all my advice out the window, haha! It's a different park if you walk in 30 minutes after official opening vs. 30-45 minutes prior to official opening.

 

[BrokeMack]

Hi everyone, could use some advise from people who've recently been to the resort. My family and I just put together a very spur of the moment trip to Orlando for the week of President's week (15-20th). instead of staying at Disney we have decided to change things up and stay at Universal (mainly because we are waiting for Disney to "return to as close to normal" as possible before we invest into Disney prices). I plan on visiting Disney on two separate days however:

Day One (a Wednesday): Planning to take the boys early morning to Animal Kingdom to get on Flight of Passage, Everest, Dinosaur and the Safari rid. Hoping to finish all this before 2pm in hopes of hopping over to the Magic Kingdom and getting them on the Mine Train. In regards to the Magic Kingdom our sole goal is to get on the Mine train, anything else is gravy. Is it possible to accomplish our goals in Animal Kingdom by 2pm if not sooner? How long can I realistically expect to wait on line for the Mine train on A Wednesday afternoon (It is what it is with the wait, just trying to gauge what to expect)?

Day Two (A Friday): Praying to get an early boarding pass for Rise and spending the day at Hollywood Studios. What are the general wait times for Slinky dog and Millennium Falcon? If we manage to finish by midday and decide to hop over to Epcot to get on TT, what's the general wait for TT? In regards to dining at Epcot, are walk-ins accommodated (with a wait of course) or is it strictly reservations only these days?

I have been to Disney several times in the past and I would consider myself a very seasoned veteran, However I feel totally lost with this trip and have no idea what to expect or how to maneuver/strategize my two days there. I have a 4 year old (turning 5 tomorrow!) and a 7 year old and we were suppose to go for a week long stay this past December but because of Covid we canceled that trip as we don't think our expectations would be met. This spur of the moment trip is with the sole goal of having our now 5 year old experience all these major rides/attractions before he starts to grow out of his innocent imagination (his brother was able to get on almost all these rides already). Otherwise, we probably wouldn't even be coming to Disney until it is functioning closer to pre-pandemic times. So, the stress factor is even higher than usual now because I want my 5 year old to experience Disney from a 5 year old's perspective before it's too late (if that makes sense). Thanks

I'd do MK then hop to AK. Uber to Contemporary then walk to MK before 8:15. You'll have the shortest wait for 7DMT that way. Wait times at AK were short all last week. You should be able to do what you want in just 3 hours.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I've got a few trip report updates.

Sunday January 31 Magic Kingdom

MK opened at 9 but we wanted to be there before 9 for the usual early opening.

7:41: We arrived at the gates to the parking lot. We were the third car back in our lane.



8:01: They started to let cars into the lot.

8:17: on a ferry. Booked an 11-11:30 return time for Cosmic Ray's.



8:32: walking into MK.

We went to Mine Train first but the line was already wrapping around the side of the attraction. We're not huge fans of the ride so we decided to head to Peter Pan.

8:44: walked onto Peter Pan.

8:54: Took the bypass to Adventureland and walked onto Jungle Cruise.







9:15: walked onto POTC.



9:32: walked onto HM

9:55: first wait of the day, waited roughly 10 minutes for IASW





10:20: few minute wait for next Philharmagic

10:47: about a 5 minute wait for LM



11:01: went to Barnstormer area to check out Tron construction



11:05: checked into Cosmic Ray's for our mobile order. Really enjoyed the chicken sandwich, ate outside.

11:45: watched Buzz Lightyear on the stage for a bit

11:55: waited one cycle for COP

Looked in the Emporium for a little but it was incredibly crowded.

12:28: listened to the Dapper Dans for the end of their set.



12:36: walking onto a waiting ferry boat.

Thoughts:

-if you want to stay as far from crowds as possible take the ferry boats from the TTC. Each trip there was a boat waiting and the boats were very empty, it was easy to stay away from other people.

-much easier to get a mobile order wait time of your choice in the morning first thing.

-getting to the parks an hour before opening is really worth it. We got a ton done in 3.5 hours: Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise, POTC, HM, IASW, Philharmagic, LM, COP and lunch.

-I was a bit sad we didn't see more characters, but we just weren't on the cavalcade route most of the day (near Splash in Frontier, past HM and then onto Main Street).

-weather was amazing on Sunday. Just right in mid to upper 70s.

 

[GBRforWDW]

If you're dropped at the Swan you can take the pathway on the opposite side of the canal and then cross the bridge at Buena Vista Dr. GoogleMaps will say a 15 minute walk to the park entrance, but I think most people walk a little faster than that (especially with the morning excitement!)

View attachment 553854

Ooh! How did I not realize there was a path on the Swan side?! We always walk towards the boardwalk to get the path, but that looks quicker. Do you exit out the front and then head over by the buses to pick it up?

I believe this route makes you go along the road with no sidewalk/very narrow sidewalk.



On fayetteville's picture, this is looking towards where the 15 minute walk white box is showing. Too me, it looks dangerous, so take this route at your own risk. I definitely would go the longer way if you have strollers or scooters.

ETA: nevermind, see yulilins reply to me.

 

[yulilin3]

I believe this route makes you go along the road with no sidewalk/very narrow sidewalk.

View attachment 553893

On fayetteville's picture, this is looking towards where the 15 minute walk white box is showing. Too me, it looks dangerous, so take this route at your own risk. I definitely would go the longer way if you have strollers or scooters.

it's not dangerous or that narrow at all. 3 people could walk side by side on that stretch and that stretch is only about 1 min of the walk

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Monday February 1 Animal Kingdom and Epcot

AK: 8-5
Epcot: 11-8

I pushed to be at AK for the early 7 am opening but I was overruled.

9:03: pulling into the AK parking lot, got row Unicorn R. Short walk to gates.

9:38: seated on Flight of Passage. It was only about a 10 minute wait, just took a while to walk over there from the park entrance.

10:08: Safari after maybe a 9 minute wait. We were in the back and geez was it bumpy. It was a pretty good safari, lots of giraffes and the lions were roaring and up and about.





10:43: 10 minute wait to do the African walking trail.







11:14: Everest walk on

11:27: Nomad Lounge for lunch. No wait but we did get there as they opened. Delicious as usual. We also got to see the water cavalcades go by. As we ate we saw Mickey/Minnie/Pluto, the drummers, Donald/Daisy/Launchpad and Goofy/Chip/Dale.



12:41: back to Flight of Passage, this was even more of a walk on than last time, barely anyone in front of us.



1:08: in line for Rivers of Light. This took exactly 45 minutes, advertised wait was 40. They are only doing one group per boat.



Saw the kangaroos for the first time ever in front of the tree.



Stopped at Restaurantausaurus for cups of water.

2:09: Dinosaur maybe a 5 minute wait.



2:30: Out of the park and headed for the car/Epcot.

Thoughts:

-AK was by far the worst park for people minding their COVID manners. Lots of people in our space in queues. Could have just been a coincidence but time after time we got all the groups who wanted to be 'extra friendly'.

-We could have done a lot more if we'd been there a bit earlier. A couple times we could have walked right back on but one in our party is not great with Everest so we only did it once. Could have easily done it multiple times by just walking the queue again.

-So in 5 hours we did: FOP x 2, ROL, Safari, Everest, Gorilla Falls trail, Dinosaur, Nomad Lounge.

-ROL had, by far, the worst line we saw. Try to hit that one early if it's a must do.

-We also wanted to do the animation class but we forgot. It's also a pain because you have to take the train back to Rafiki's Planet Watch.

-Last note: the temperature started out real nice in the mid 60s. Around noon it just started to take a nosedive. We were glad to get back to the car around 2:30 to collect our extra winter clothing.

 

[GBRforWDW]

it's not dangerous or that narrow at all. 3 people could walk side by side on that stretch and that stretch is only about 1 min of the walk

Thanks for clarifying, I was just going off what I could see in that pic.

 

[Leigh L]

I'd go back a few pages on this thread and read a bunch of the recent reports. Your key factor will be getting there as early as possible, with the parks generally opening 45 mins - 1 hour before the official park opening time. You can knock out a lot in those first few hours!

This! Definitely plan to be there early, we found that the key to getting everything - and then some - done.

 

[OKWFan88]

Is the spring roll cart still not open in MK? If not, is there anywhere else to get the cheeseburger roll things?