Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[NashvilleMama]

It's mostly all star teams, which don't typically do any chanting lol.

Not sure what comps they are. The all star and school seasons end with these competitions. Either way, there are not any more scheduled for WDW at this time after mid-May.

There are quite a few nationals comps at Gaylord Opryland in June/July and those groups do park days, too. But probably nowhere near as big as the all-star/school groups

 

[cindianne320]

Interesting, this was reported as a new change several days ago. Weird that there are some places still having the CM do it.

I think the change was announced at the Resorts, not necessarily at all QS Restaurants.

 

[luv2cheer92]

There are quite a few nationals comps at Gaylord Opryland in June/July and those groups do park days, too. But probably nowhere near as big as the all-star/school groups

Oh, so not all star cheer and not at WDW. Ok.

 

[hereforthechurros]

WOWIE i arrived at CBR this morning at 10am, was told our room was almost ready and to hang around, now it’s 3 hours later and still not ready. Line at checkin desk is looped around the entire lobby and only 2 CM working the check in desks. People are getting irritated.

it’s me, i’m people.

I stayed at three resorts last week and late room check in happened at all three of them, and only after visiting the front desk. Zero requests were met as well. Whomever told you the room was almost ready obviously shouldn’t have :-/ Getting into a room early seems more unreliable than ever.

 

[NashvilleMama]

Oh, so not all star cheer and not at WDW. Ok.

The OP on the topic wasn't just on all star, but about cheer/dance groups in general. I think we've beaten the cheer horse to death and can move along.

 

[luv2cheer92]

The OP on the topic wasn't just on all star, but about cheer/dance groups in general. I think we've beaten the cheer horse to death and can move along.

Not just all star, but comps at WDW. I just didn't understand how bringing up comps in Tennessee would affect park strategies at WDW.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Just to add to PP’s info, the Bus Wait icon only shows up on your day of check-in through your day of check-out.

I don't know if it is just us, but in several trips since they started offering this, I have never been able to find it on the MDE app during our stays.

Wait... what? You can track the busses on the app?! Where? Why did I not know about this?

 

[Haley R]

I stayed at three resorts last week and late room check in happened at all three of them, and only after visiting the front desk. Zero requests were met as well. Whomever told you the room was almost ready obviously shouldn’t have :-/ Getting into a room early seems more unreliable than ever.

This worries me. We’re going in May and staying at the cabins. My son is only 12 months so we were hoping to get into a cabin for his nap

 

[MNDisneyMommy]

Just back from a week at WDW, here are some thoughts:

• I was concerned with no Fastpass we'd be waiting in long lines, but honestly between using rope drop, riding hard for a few hours, and then taking a long break and coming back at dinnertime to ride hard before close, we avoided most of the insanity. We rode everything we wanted to at least once, and many things multiple times during the trip. We had 2 days at HS and my son and I rode Minnie/Mickey a total of 5 times... my husband and daughter got through RNR three times and Tower twice... we got Space done three times, Splash twice... we really did get as much done as we used to with Fastpass so that was a huge positive. I couldn't get over some of the waits during the afternoon though, they were nuts!
• COVID safety wise, we would have bypassed many situations if we weren't vaccinated and our kids weren't wearing really great masks. Obviously restaurant dining would have been out, but there were plenty of line situations where my husband and I stood on either end of our kids and lingered to try to get some distance between the kids and people doing dumb things. (Some of our favorites... the lady on a phone call who took her mask off and when her husband chided her she defended herself by saying she couldn't hear the other person on the phone with her face mask on... the parents who not only let their 6-8ish year old kid not wear his mask at all but then gave him chewing gum while in line?.... the macho guy who seemed to think getting away with taking his mask off whenever CMs weren't looking would impress his girlfriend). I would still rate mask compliance as pretty high (97-98%) but its hard not to focus on the noses and people who just think the rules must not apply to them.
• Learn and practice Rise of the Resistance. I prepared with obsession and my husband watched a couple videos, and I got boarding group 10 while he was still trying to click through the first screen after Join. I was able to get RoR boarding groups both mornings at 7 using time.gov to count down the seconds and then flipping to my app and timing my Join click for exactly when the clock struck 7 (and then clicking fast through every screen after). It skipped my son one morning and we got him easily added at a low wait Guest Relations stand later (they have them scattered through the park, so don't wait in a long line). The ride was super cool...totally loved it.
• Wearing masks sucks in the heat, not so much because you're sweating under it (which we did no matter which mask type we tried) but you want to be sipping and drinking and snacking on the go during precious low wait times and its so HARD to pull over and stop just to drink. We did it, but it sucked. Disney's newer cloth masks felt pretty breathable to me and I wore those over the surgical masks I brought, my husband settled on his KF94 because it boxes away from his face and felt cooler to him, and the kids wore KF94s without complaint.
• MK, Epcot, and HS all had rides going as soon as they let us enter in the morning, so imagine our surprise when we got up early and raced to Safari at AK later in the week and were told we had to wait 30 minutes until 8am before the ride would start. ***?? They did start running the truck at exactly 8, but that was very unexpected! None of the rides started early (although we didn't ask about the Pandora rides, maybe those opened, but Everest, Dinosaur and Safari were a no go.
• Our Kidani room was ready at our requested 1pm arrival, which really surprised me... so many anecdotes about rooms not being ready on time I did not expect that. Kidani was fantastic, beautiful, all good things we expected.
• To Go from Table Service places was awesome. We grabbed some Kona at the Poly and enjoyed, Sanaa and enjoyed. I hope they keep that!
• We did not experience any long Mobile Order return window issues some reported (but we usually had reservations at lunch).

We really did have a great time and it was a much needed return to our favorite place. We'll do some COVID tests later this week and maybe the week after (our state does free ship-to-home so they're really convenient) and see if we (especially the kids) picked up anything, but so far so good. Even with all the adjustments, it felt so GOOD to be there.

 

[scrappinginontario]

This worries me. We’re going in May and staying at the cabins. My son is only 12 months so we were hoping to get into a cabin for his nap

Your room may be ready but it’s not guaranteed especially before 3pm. (I’m not really sure what check-in time means as I’ve heard it’s not a guarantee that your room will be ready by 3PM either.) Disney is doing enhanced cleaning of all rooms and checkout time is officially 11AM. There is a lot for the cleaning CMs to do to prepare a room and have it checked before it us ready for the next guests.

 

[Princess Katelet]

Just back from a week at WDW, here are some thoughts:

• I was concerned with no Fastpass we'd be waiting in long lines, but honestly between using rope drop, riding hard for a few hours, and then taking a long break and coming back at dinnertime to ride hard before close, we avoided most of the insanity. We rode everything we wanted to at least once, and many things multiple times during the trip. We had 2 days at HS and my son and I rode Minnie/Mickey a total of 5 times... my husband and daughter got through RNR three times and Tower twice... we got Space done three times, Splash twice... we really did get as much done as we used to with Fastpass so that was a huge positive. I couldn't get over some of the waits during the afternoon though, they were nuts!
• COVID safety wise, we would have bypassed many situations if we weren't vaccinated and our kids weren't wearing really great masks. Obviously restaurant dining would have been out, but there were plenty of line situations where my husband and I stood on either end of our kids and lingered to try to get some distance between the kids and people doing dumb things. (Some of our favorites... the lady on a phone call who took her mask off and when her husband chided her she defended herself by saying she couldn't hear the other person on the phone with her face mask on... the parents who not only let their 6-8ish year old kid not wear his mask at all but then gave him chewing gum while in line?.... the macho guy who seemed to think getting away with taking his mask off whenever CMs weren't looking would impress his girlfriend). I would still rate mask compliance as pretty high (97-98%) but its hard not to focus on the noses and people who just think the rules must not apply to them.
• Learn and practice Rise of the Resistance. I prepared with obsession and my husband watched a couple videos, and I got boarding group 10 while he was still trying to click through the first screen after Join. I was able to get RoR boarding groups both mornings at 7 using time.gov to count down the seconds and then flipping to my app and timing my Join click for exactly when the clock struck 7 (and then clicking fast through every screen after). It skipped my son one morning and we got him easily added at a low wait Guest Relations stand later (they have them scattered through the park, so don't wait in a long line). The ride was super cool...totally loved it.
• Wearing masks sucks in the heat, not so much because you're sweating under it (which we did no matter which mask type we tried) but you want to be sipping and drinking and snacking on the go during precious low wait times and its so HARD to pull over and stop just to drink. We did it, but it sucked. Disney's newer cloth masks felt pretty breathable to me and I wore those over the surgical masks I brought, my husband settled on his KF94 because it boxes away from his face and felt cooler to him, and the kids wore KF94s without complaint.
• MK, Epcot, and HS all had rides going as soon as they let us enter in the morning, so imagine our surprise when we got up early and raced to Safari at AK later in the week and were told we had to wait 30 minutes until 8am before the ride would start. ***?? They did start running the truck at exactly 8, but that was very unexpected! None of the rides started early (although we didn't ask about the Pandora rides, maybe those opened, but Everest, Dinosaur and Safari were a no go.
• Our Kidani room was ready at our requested 1pm arrival, which really surprised me... so many anecdotes about rooms not being ready on time I did not expect that. Kidani was fantastic, beautiful, all good things we expected.
• To Go from Table Service places was awesome. We grabbed some Kona at the Poly and enjoyed, Sanaa and enjoyed. I hope they keep that!
• We did not experience any long Mobile Order return window issues some reported (but we usually had reservations at lunch).

We really did have a great time and it was a much needed return to our favorite place. We'll do some COVID tests later this week and maybe the week after (our state does free ship-to-home so they're really convenient) and see if we (especially the kids) picked up anything, but so far so good. Even with all the adjustments, it felt so GOOD to be there.

I hate that you saw such bad mask compliance and social distancing.
What is to go table service?? You can order full meals on the app and just go pick them up? Where do you then eat them?

 

[Akck]

This worries me. We’re going in May and staying at the cabins. My son is only 12 months so we were hoping to get into a cabin for his nap

I’d do online check-in and specify your arrival time. When you get to the resort and don’t have your room yet, talk to a CM in the lobby so they’ll know you’re physically present. They may be able to expedite your room.

 

[Haley R]

I’d do online check-in and specify your arrival time. When you get to the resort and don’t have your room yet, talk to a CM in the lobby so they’ll know you’re physically present. They may be able to expedite your room.

I put that getting a room early is our number one request. I plan to stop by the check in when we get there if the cabin isn’t assigned yet. If there’s nothing they can do we’ll have to figure something out.

 

[hereforthechurros]

This worries me. We’re going in May and staying at the cabins. My son is only 12 months so we were hoping to get into a cabin for his nap

Do online check in and put in your expected arrival time. Then click the box that says early arrival supersedes any requests. This may help.

 

[CableKC]

Wait... what? You can track the busses on the app?! Where? Why did I not know about this?

Don't know if it changed since the last time we went to DW, but I think it's in the DisneyWorld App itself when you check the Resort information. It was very helpful. I figured out how much time it took for us to walk from the room to the bus stop and then was able to time it out to determine when we had to leave the room.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Wait... what? You can track the busses on the app?! Where? Why did I not know about this?

It shows you the approximate arrival time for buses coming to the resort you are staying at based on destination. It's only for buses leaving your resort, you can't track them when leaving the parks. You can only see them once you are there and it shows up in the resort info area, where you can see your room number. It's had that for a few years.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

What is to go table service?? You can order full meals on the app and just go pick them up? Where do you then eat them?

Below is a list of table service restaurants that offer mobile “To Go” ordering. It is only offered at select resort table service restaurants, no theme park table service restaurants offer this option.

AKL - Sanaa To Go
Poly - Kona Cafe To Go
OKW - Olivia’s Cafe To Go
BWI - Trattoria al Forno To Go (this was recently added)
YC - Ale & Compass Restaurant To Go
WL - Geyser Point Bar & Grill To Go (this was recently added)
CR - The Wave To Go
CSR - Three Bridges Bar & Grill To Go

In the app, search “To Go” and the list of options will show up.

The interface is very similar to Quick Service mobile ordering.

Where you eat is up to you - some take it back to their room, a bench somewhere, some resorts have outside tables in certain spots (for example, the tables outside of Captain Cook’s and Trader Sam’s Tiki Terrace at Poly, there are a few tables out by the water at CR, etc).

 

[Elle23]

Wait... what? You can track the busses on the app?! Where? Why did I not know about this?

Even if you can track bus times on the app, it doesn’t tell you how many people are already in line for the bus, so it’s honestly best not to rely on it.

If you are ready to go, it’s best to just go and secure your place in line and wait. We missed several buses one trip by relying on the app bus times because the buses had filled up.

 

[e_yerger]

Wow. I didn't know you could complain before the official check-in time. Well, I know you could complain anytime but I wouldn't think it's valid. Or am I wrong on that?

I know Disney asks expected arrival time and it's a nice surprise when it's ready prior, but I feel like guests can't expect rooms to be ready any earlier than official check-in time. If they're being cleaned, they do need time to turn the rooms over and I imagine that process is a little more thorough post-COVID.

If I wanted to guarantee I would have a room early in the morning, I would imagine I may need to pay for that night before and anything else would be strictly pixie dust.

My complaint my purely based on the first CM telling us specifically to hang around, followed by nearly 4 hours before getting the alert that our room was open.

 

[Tammy A]

Just back from a week at WDW, here are some thoughts:

• I was concerned with no Fastpass we'd be waiting in long lines, but honestly between using rope drop, riding hard for a few hours, and then taking a long break and coming back at dinnertime to ride hard before close, we avoided most of the insanity. We rode everything we wanted to at least once, and many things multiple times during the trip. We had 2 days at HS and my son and I rode Minnie/Mickey a total of 5 times... my husband and daughter got through RNR three times and Tower twice... we got Space done three times, Splash twice... we really did get as much done as we used to with Fastpass so that was a huge positive. I couldn't get over some of the waits during the afternoon though, they were nuts!
• COVID safety wise, we would have bypassed many situations if we weren't vaccinated and our kids weren't wearing really great masks. Obviously restaurant dining would have been out, but there were plenty of line situations where my husband and I stood on either end of our kids and lingered to try to get some distance between the kids and people doing dumb things. (Some of our favorites... the lady on a phone call who took her mask off and when her husband chided her she defended herself by saying she couldn't hear the other person on the phone with her face mask on... the parents who not only let their 6-8ish year old kid not wear his mask at all but then gave him chewing gum while in line?.... the macho guy who seemed to think getting away with taking his mask off whenever CMs weren't looking would impress his girlfriend). I would still rate mask compliance as pretty high (97-98%) but its hard not to focus on the noses and people who just think the rules must not apply to them.
• Learn and practice Rise of the Resistance. I prepared with obsession and my husband watched a couple videos, and I got boarding group 10 while he was still trying to click through the first screen after Join. I was able to get RoR boarding groups both mornings at 7 using time.gov to count down the seconds and then flipping to my app and timing my Join click for exactly when the clock struck 7 (and then clicking fast through every screen after). It skipped my son one morning and we got him easily added at a low wait Guest Relations stand later (they have them scattered through the park, so don't wait in a long line). The ride was super cool...totally loved it.
• Wearing masks sucks in the heat, not so much because you're sweating under it (which we did no matter which mask type we tried) but you want to be sipping and drinking and snacking on the go during precious low wait times and its so HARD to pull over and stop just to drink. We did it, but it sucked. Disney's newer cloth masks felt pretty breathable to me and I wore those over the surgical masks I brought, my husband settled on his KF94 because it boxes away from his face and felt cooler to him, and the kids wore KF94s without complaint.
• MK, Epcot, and HS all had rides going as soon as they let us enter in the morning, so imagine our surprise when we got up early and raced to Safari at AK later in the week and were told we had to wait 30 minutes until 8am before the ride would start. ***?? They did start running the truck at exactly 8, but that was very unexpected! None of the rides started early (although we didn't ask about the Pandora rides, maybe those opened, but Everest, Dinosaur and Safari were a no go.
• Our Kidani room was ready at our requested 1pm arrival, which really surprised me... so many anecdotes about rooms not being ready on time I did not expect that. Kidani was fantastic, beautiful, all good things we expected.
• To Go from Table Service places was awesome. We grabbed some Kona at the Poly and enjoyed, Sanaa and enjoyed. I hope they keep that!
• We did not experience any long Mobile Order return window issues some reported (but we usually had reservations at lunch).

We really did have a great time and it was a much needed return to our favorite place. We'll do some COVID tests later this week and maybe the week after (our state does free ship-to-home so they're really convenient) and see if we (especially the kids) picked up anything, but so far so good. Even with all the adjustments, it felt so GOOD to be there.

Thank you so much for your report. It sounds like you all had a great time.