Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[CarolynFH]

Space Mountain 35 minutes? In the late 1990s, before the first FP was implemented, the line was almost always an hour or two.

 

[MomOTwins]

I guess I'm in the minority here in that although I'm a FP fan, i will say I found it challenging finding FPs for headliner rides many times and I was only looking for 2 guests. I'd sometimes split us up and book 1 and 1 but still, it was a lot of work to rarely get a headliner FP more than once or twice a day. Many of the last minute FPs we got were for secondary rides and sometimes not even needed.

Personally, I'd like to try a trip without FP just to see the difference and then decide after that...but that's just me.

For when it comes back, just a helpful tip: google the "drop times" for fastpass for each park. There were certain times a day when disney released additional same-day FP inventory for those rides.

I will say, you have a point there about it being an interesting thing to experience at least once. I really enjoyed getting to see the standby queue on certain rides (Peter Pan, FOP) that we'd only ever used fastpass for pre-2020. The things I did not enjoy were (1) being exposed to florida weather in the extended outdoor queues, (2) the reduction in downtime between rides to browse shops, enjoy a treat etc. because so much time was spent going from line to line; (3) all the standing in lines really took a toll on my legs and feet and a few days in I was taking pain medication to get by from day 3 on, which is something that's never happened on all my disney trips before. So it is a mixed bag for sure.

I hope they bring back pre-shows. That was one thing that helped make line waits more bearable, as they were typically in the A/C.

I know you're in our August thread, so hope you have a good experience! I know we'll enjoy our August trip whether FP is back or not.

 

[bwilcox]

We just returned yesterday from WDW, and while I never post here, I felt like I needed to add our experience. We are not a family who can go to WDW multiple times a year or even every other year-it is usually 3-
4 years between visits for us. Our perspective may be different because we knew if we didn't ride it this time, we would not have another chance for years. I keep reading about people saying that they got to ride everything they wanted to, and that just wasn't how it happened for us. I think starting last week, the experience has changed. I know people in the past few weeks and months have said that the wait times are inflated, but that was not the case for us. We found the wait times in the Disney app to be pretty accurate-if it said 50 minutes for Splash, it was in fact right around 50 minutes for Splash. If you did not make it to a headliner right at opening, you had to wait in line the rest of the day. We got to the parks at opening everyday, but you could only make it on about two rides before the others started developing high wait times. I am a planner and knew how to work the system with FP, but this trip we just had to suck it up and wait in long lines in the heat. Plus, with the parks not staying open very late, it really cut down on time. We did all but one park open to close with a lunch ADR for a break, and still ran out of time because the park was closing.
All this sounds like complaining, but we really did have a good trip. This is the reality of what we experienced, though.

 

[emmabelle]

I was just there and my husband sets a timer for every ride with his phone. HM was the biggest discrepancy, reported 20 minutes and was like 7. Everything else was fairly accurate to the times posted on the app. Maybe 5 minutes here or there. I would definitely recommend walking by the ride just to make sure. It was pretty easy to tell which ride times were inflated and which were not. Minnie and Mickey was probably 10 minutes less than the reported ride time and at like 4:30 pm we waited like 25 minutes. We got lucky with MMRR and with TOT on the Sunday night. For some reason the crowds weren't so bad that night. MK on Thursday night was very crowded and that's when I missed playing the FP game the most.

 

[The13thLetter]

I have seen discussions of people asking if the skyliner from CBR will let you on the Epcot line early for a Topolino breakfast reservation, but does anyone know if they will let you on from the International Gateway for the same reason? Or is that line already running early anyway for people to get to HS?

 

[DisneyFive]

Personally, I'd like to try a trip without FP just to see the difference and then decide after that...but that's just me.

So would I... if someone else was paying for my trip. When we have near $10,000 invested in our 10 night stay this summer, I don't want to gamble on our experience. The system worked great for us in the past. It's not the fault of those that used the system properly, that others didn't plan or research and then complain about their experience.

We didn't need to be at the parks at opening, let alone 45 minutes prior.
We could take an afternoon break with an attraction waiting for us when we came back with a short wait
We could hit all the headliners with short waits
If we wanted, we could choose to get up early really make a day of it walking on popular rides at park opening, or we could stay late and do the same. Now, you HAVE TO do this if you want those shorter headliner waits.

I'm just praying for the previous system to come back since there is more and more evidence from this awesome thread lately that crowds have grown to a level that has pushed guests to continually wait way too long in lines. If that's our experience this summer, sadly WDW will no longer be getting our money. We will move to our other favorite vacation options like cruises (non Disney).

Dan

 

[emmabelle]

So would I... if someone else was paying for my trip. When we have near $10,000 invested in our 10 night stay this summer, I don't want to gamble on our experience. The system worked great for us in the past. It's not the fault of those that used the system properly, that others didn't plan or research and then complain about their experience.

We didn't need to be at the parks at opening, let alone 45 minutes prior.
We could take an afternoon break with an attraction waiting for us when we came back with a short wait
We could hit all the headliners with short waits
If we wanted, we could choose to get up early really make a day of it walking on popular rides at park opening, or we could stay late and do the same. Now, you HAVE TO do this if you want those shorter headliner waits.

I'm just praying for the previous system to come back since there is more and more evidence from this awesome thread lately that crowds have grown to a level that has pushed guests to continually wait way too long in lines. If that's our experience this summer, sadly WDW will no longer be getting our money. We will move to our other favorite vacation options like cruises (non Disney).

Dan

as someone who was there last week also, I completely agree with this. We used to get so much done before. The lack of shows and shorter hours are making it more complicated for sure. I mean a line just to get into the Mexico pavilion or The Emporium in MK.

 

[finedice]

I hope they reinstate "the system that shall not be named" before we arrive late July.

Bring it back! We only have two days this time around - and want to enjoy some downtime for lunch etc! These times are too long when you account for multiple waits throughout the day!

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Bring it back! We only have two days this time around - and want to enjoy some downtime for lunch etc! These times are too long when you account for multiple waits throughout the day!

Completely agree. I want to be able to ride certain rides with a minimal wait and then I can make a call on whether I stand in line for an 30 minutes-plus on the others. The answer is almost always I'm not standing in line that long.

 

[dmband]

What people don’t seem to think of with wait times is capacity.
to comment __ ride is typically 60 mins so 30 is great has to keep in mind that when capacity goes back to 100% the line times will grow with it

 

[HollyMD]

As a mom to a toddler, I’m really glad to not see hour waits for secondary rides

 

[TwoMisfits]

Space Mountain 35 minutes? In the late 1990s, before the first FP was implemented, the line was almost always an hour or two.

I remember waiting 2 hours for Pirates of the Caribbean on a summer day in that rough time period...we just waited back then. Of course, the hours for MK were something like 8am-12am, and my dad had us stay the whole day, so we still conquered the parks even with those waits...

 

[finedice]

It will be there soon at this rate.

 

[brockash]

We just returned yesterday from WDW, and while I never post here, I felt like I needed to add our experience. We are not a family who can go to WDW multiple times a year or even every other year-it is usually 3-
4 years between visits for us. Our perspective may be different because we knew if we didn't ride it this time, we would not have another chance for years. I keep reading about people saying that they got to ride everything they wanted to, and that just wasn't how it happened for us. I think starting last week, the experience has changed. I know people in the past few weeks and months have said that the wait times are inflated, but that was not the case for us. We found the wait times in the Disney app to be pretty accurate-if it said 50 minutes for Splash, it was in fact right around 50 minutes for Splash. If you did not make it to a headliner right at opening, you had to wait in line the rest of the day. We got to the parks at opening everyday, but you could only make it on about two rides before the others started developing high wait times. I am a planner and knew how to work the system with FP, but this trip we just had to suck it up and wait in long lines in the heat. Plus, with the parks not staying open very late, it really cut down on time. We did all but one park open to close with a lunch ADR for a break, and still ran out of time because the park was closing.
All this sounds like complaining, but we really did have a good trip. This is the reality of what we experienced, though.

I will say when we went in March the app times were basically correct too...when went in Sept. the actual lines were a lower, but not in March. We too could only usually get 2 headliners in by being some of the first at the park.

There were several rides that we just mever did in March because of the lines.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I have seen discussions of people asking if the skyliner from CBR will let you on the Epcot line early for a Topolino breakfast reservation, but does anyone know if they will let you on from the International Gateway for the same reason? Or is that line already running early anyway for people to get to HS?

Yes they will as guests at the Boardwalk, Yacht Club and Beach Club will be heading to DHS.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

We just got back home Saturday after a week at OKW. The waits were long but not unmanageable. DHS waits were shorter than they were in October during our times there. The only ride we didn't ride that we normally would have was Splash Mountain. 65 minute waits and the mask required part of the line started at the very beginning, not where you enter the building. It's my 10 year old's second favorite and we were in line for about 5 minutes before he said "I can't do this for 65 minutes" Other than that and some iffy quick service from Goods to Go it was a great trip. And finally after 7 tries we got a boarding group for Rise! Cape May dinner was really good also.

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

So far we are finding it manageable, but we are getting to the parks an hour before the official opening time. Today we got to the AK parking gates at 7 and by the time we got to the gate they were already letting people in. We went right to Pandora and were off FOP by 8 and went right onto Navi which was walk on. Then we went to the Safari which had a half hour wait by then,

The day before we went to Epcot. We got to the gates at 10, they let us in to the park by the time we walked up, but held us from TT. They did release us at 10:30 and we were getting on TT before 11. Then onto Frozen which had a 45 minute wait, but that was ok.

 

[tinkerhon]

Completely agree. I want to be able to ride certain rides with a minimal wait and then I can make a call on whether I stand in line for an 30 minutes-plus on the others. The answer is almost always I'm not standing in line that long.

Totally agree !!!

 

[Sarahslay]

We just got back home Saturday after a week at OKW. The waits were long but not unmanageable. DHS waits were shorter than they were in October during our times there. The only ride we didn't ride that we normally would have was Splash Mountain. 65 minute waits and the mask required part of the line started at the very beginning, not where you enter the building. It's my 10 year old's second favorite and we were in line for about 5 minutes before he said "I can't do this for 65 minutes" Other than that and some iffy quick service from Goods to Go it was a great trip. And finally after 7 tries we got a boarding group for Rise! Cape May dinner was really good also.

I think Goods to Go is having some problems, they don't seem to be handling the system to well unfortunatley. We got lucky with Splash and hit it after a closure when the wait said 20 minutes, bumped to 40 after we entered the queue, but it wasn't the hottest part of the day yet. That outdoor area is tough though, I understand that's rough. In the heat of the summer, even I as a mask wearer am happy they are removing/lifting the mask rules (well, for vaccinated anyway if people actually follow that), it's tough out there right now.

For the people complaining about the ride wait times, and how they couldn't get it all done despite what other reports said, it's kinda all down to luck. I actually don't pay much attention to the app right now because, to be honest, by the time you get to the ride it's changed completely. If we see a line and we think we want to wait in that line we get in it, otherwise we skip. Did we ride EVERY RIDE? Absolutely not, and we didn't want to either (my kids at 13 & 10 don't like PP, Dumbo, AFC, Barnstormer, SW, and my husband is half deaf and can't understand the skippers on jungle cruise so we skipped all of those). We did do every single other ride over 5 days on our recent trip with long midday breaks. We were at every park at least 45 minutes prior to opening time, and aside from Epcot (because my family, aside from myself, are early risers and can't hang past nine) we closed down the park we were in at night. It's not a FP strategy, but it's still strategy you have to plan for before you go. I've been 6 times already since August, this was my husbands 3rd trip since reopening and he kept arguing with me as I dragged us across MK and then he had to admit if we had done what he told us to do it would have not worked out well. They aren't shutting down the rides to clean them anymore so the wait times aren't that far off like they were in the beginning, but just like pre-covid they can still be off, and they do generally keep moving because there is no FP you just have to stop while loading and sorting happens. It's not perfect, it still involves strategy and planning, so if you don't want to put that time in to do it be prepared to wait and be frustrated.

 

[cakebaker]

Completely agree. I want to be able to ride certain rides with a minimal wait and then I can make a call on whether I stand in line for an 30 minutes-plus on the others. The answer is almost always I'm not standing in line that long.

30 minutes is my limit on waiting to ride anything and FP made it possible to do that. We always did a morning park without FP, rode secondary rides with very short wait times and saved our FP's for our evening park where we rode headliners. We also stayed long enough that we'd make it to each park at least twice so even HS and Epcot with their tiering wasn't a problem. I'm just not standing in hour long or more lines, I don't care what the ride is. It's simple for us, either they bring FP back or some form of it, or we don't go back. We've been going a long time, makes me sad to think about not returning, but the WDW I love doesn't exist right now.