Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[mickeyfanachey1999]

"Bucket" sounds scary...is it all swimming together?

The seafood is pretty much all swimming together. The steak/chicken "bucket" is more separated

 

[NashvilleMama]

HS at rope drop today was chaos. We at the last minute decided to do RR instead of Mickey/Minnies Runaway Railway. Good thing because it went down at open which caused everyone from that line to jump in Slinky's causing the wait to go to 120 mins. ToT also wasn't operating at opening. Glad we did RR because we were on and off the ride before park officially opened. You really have to go with the flow at this park which I admit, I'm not always great at.

this is giving me such anxiety about rope dropping this park next week! I guess it's good we have 2 HS days reserved just in case but really want to do MMRR first and that's not sounding like a safe plan...

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

The seafood is pretty much all swimming together. The steak/chicken "bucket" is more separated
View attachment 584677

Thank you!!

 

[PanchoX1]

rope dropping HS is on our agenda to. target is SDD. last time we were there, we got in line for it on 3 separate times throughout the day. it went down every time. so we never go to ride it.

 

[SuJo]

So.eating at SciFi today and the masks for severs has been lifted.

 

[luv2cheer92]

So.eating at SciFi today and the masks for severs has been lifted.

No vaccinated CMs need to wear masks any longer.

 

[honeymo78]

No vaccinated CMs need to wear masks any longer.

Except on inside transportation, like buses and the monorail.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Except on inside transportation, like buses and the monorail.

Well yes of course.

 

[leannak]

For everyone frustrated by rope drop… just wanted to let you know we had success with it. Not sure how long it will last but Animal Kingdom is the best, due to early entry. They let us in at about 7:15 on the 22nd and we headed straight for FOP and didn’t run. I think we were the first ride group! But by the time we got out the line looked very long. Then we headed to Everest and rode twice walk-on. Could have done more but decided to meet up with family who had done the safari. They had gone straight there and were held until the safari stared at about 7:40. We did some other things and arrived at the lion king show around 10:27 for the 10:30 show. We had seats in the far back but could see fine and enjoyed the show.

The 7 dwarfs mine ride looks horrible at rope drop. I think it was posted 70 minutes or so by the time we got there but once inside they didn’t have all the switch-backs open in line so it was much faster than it looked. Maybe 34 minutes? Same with slinky dog. We were held on the main Street in the big crowd and headed over there and got in line waaaay back… by Woody statue. My husband was frustrated and didn’t want to wait but we did it anyway and again the line was SUPER fast once inside the actual queue. they sent you pretty much straight through each section instead of all the back& forth so it was very fast and only about 20-some minutes. Husband was so happy we stuck with it.

As for the line at the Emporium, I said I’d never wait in line to shop but my kids wanted something so we “waited”. It wasn’t much of a wait though because they basically let you just walk in single file. We ended up doing it 2 different days and it was the same both times.

I had a hard time getting my family out of the parks for mid-day rest but the one day they agreed it was wonderful. I highly recommend. A little nap made the next morning rope drop so much easier, even with a late park exit the night before.

Don’t get disgruntled. Aside from the insane heat, the World is wonderful right now!!! So fun to see new things opening and changing every day. So much optimism and excitement. The “Earning My Ears” cast members are so happy and fun. We are having an amazing time and hope you all do too!!

 

[DMLAINI]

Are photopass photographers now allowed to take pictures of your phone?

 

[GBRforWDW]

Are photopass photographers now allowed to take pictures of your phone?

I’m seeing numerous reports on Twitter this is the case.

 

[MomOTwins]

Yikes, I wouldn’t have been happy with a pullout vs a real bed. Could you have held out for the two queens if you wanted or was the king and sofa your only choice?

No, at Beach Club, "2 queen beds" is not a bookable category. You can only book your room view (Standard, Garden or Water view) and then within those categories, Disney has discretion to assign you to any of the following based on availability and party size:

• 2 Queen Beds and 1 Day Bed
• 2 Queen Beds
• 1 King Bed and 1 Day Bed
• 1 King Bed

It's all explained here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/beach-club-resort/rates-rooms/

We had a bad experience with this at BC where we as a family of 5 were given 2 Queen Beds and I inquired if we could move to a room with 2 Queens and a day bed and was told none were available. We slept very uncomfortably 3 in one bed all week and that was the last time I ever stayed at BC. Now we only ever book a room where we are guaranteed enough sleeping surfaces for our family.

 

[blbrodger1]

HS is super frustrating isn’t it?? We waited in two 70+ minute lines for Tower after closing. Not worth it! MMRR was MOST frustrating though. We, too, waited in a line where it broke down and stayed in line thinking it’ll get fixed but nope. We waited MUCH too long before bailing. We had never ridden it so we really wanted to stick it out but after about 45 minutes we realized how stupid we were being (every time someone ahead of us bailed we decided to stay cause we were that much closer to the front). We did finally ride on another day but apparently missed the preshow which I didn’t even know existed until getting back home.
Could you have used your FP on Slinky, or is that ride not included?

We could have done Slinky, but my daughters preferred RR. It's so frustrating and the worst part is that it seems to be happening with multiple rides on multiple occasions. Sorry to hear about your TOT experience.

 

[blbrodger1]

No, at Beach Club, "2 queen beds" is not a bookable category. You can only book your room view (Standard, Garden or Water view) and then within those categories, Disney has discretion to assign you to any of the following based on availability and party size:

• 2 Queen Beds and 1 Day Bed
• 2 Queen Beds
• 1 King Bed and 1 Day Bed
• 1 King Bed

It's all explained here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/beach-club-resort/rates-rooms/

We had a bad experience with this at BC where we as a family of 5 were given 2 Queen Beds and I inquired if we could move to a room with 2 Queens and a day bed and was told none were available. We slept very uncomfortably 3 in one bed all week and that was the last time I ever stayed at BC. Now we only ever book a room where we are guaranteed enough sleeping surfaces for our family.

A party of 5 should have never been given only 2 queen beds! That's crazy! Especially considering the price of the Beach Club.

 

[Leigh L]

We decided to drive in today and the tollbooths at DHS opened up at 8 (in February it was 8:15). Easily through security and tapped in fairly quickly.

It felt weird to rope drop again after not doing it for a year, but going in the direction of Galaxy's Edge didn't look as chaotic as I remember it being pre-COVID....but the area they held everyone to wait for Slinky and/or MMRR (I wasn't clear on it, but I distinctly heard "Toy Story Land") and it looked crazy crowded.

We never did ride Slinky as the storms blew in and we assumed it would be closed with all the lightning, but we are OK with that.

HS at rope drop today was chaos. We at the last minute decided to do RR instead of Mickey/Minnies Runaway Railway. Good thing because it went down at open which caused everyone from that line to jump in Slinky's causing the wait to go to 120 mins. ToT also wasn't operating at opening. Glad we did RR because we were on and off the ride before park officially opened. You really have to go with the flow at this park which I admit, I'm not always great at.

Maybe we crossed paths today
We *almost* rope dropped ToT, but crew decided on MFSR instead. Sounds like that was the way to go since it was down.

Hope you had a great day!!

 

[Shughart]

Regular sandals won’t cut it. Hiking sandals are what you want because a good pair will have decent traction and dry quickly. My Tevas are perfect even in torrential downpours like the one I ran into on 6/4 while leaving HS.

Do you get any sores/blisters from doing all that walking in your Tevas? I love mine, but haven't done a ton in them yet.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Maybe we crossed paths today
We *almost* rope dropped ToT, but crew decided on MFSR instead. Sounds like that was the way to go since it was down.

Hope you had a great day!!

We probably did, hope your day was great too!!

We park hopped to MK for the evening geared up in our ponchos and wait times we're so reasonable for many rides- I imagine a lot of folks cleared out when it started raining. Btw: the ponchos they sell here are great- much better than the pack I bought on Amazon. Just buy these! $12 isn't bad at all for Disney prices.

ETA: we lined up 90 mins early for AK and were the third family in line but for MK line at 6:30 with an 8AM opening is PACKED. You wouldn't be on the first bus if you only arrived at 90 mins prior, just a heads up for folks. This is at Pop.

 

[olive]

We are at Disney right now and happy to be here. This is what we have experienced so far.

Weds - we had a morning flight out of CT. Got to our hotel (Gaylord Palms for 3 nights before switching to the Contemporary for a week this morning). We went swimming, then off to Disney Springs dinner to wander around and have dinner at T Rex. We had a virtual queue time at Gideon's but decided not to wait around in the rain for it.

Thurs - We got BG 16 on our first attempts! HS officially opened 9, and our hotel shuttle dropped us off about 845. We had to stop at guest services which caused a little delay. After that we walked onto Star Tours, explored Galaxy’s Edge a little and then our BG was called at 940. We had never ridden this before but I think the preshows were running when we went. Lines were quite long by the time we got out of Rise. TS Mania was down until the afternoon. Slinky was up to 80-120 mins, Swirling Saucers 40 mins, Millennium Falcon at 60 mins. We ended up doing a short day here, with mobile ordered lunch from Docking Bay/Pizza Rizzo and riding Slinky and MF and doing Muppets before heading out.

We hopped to AK, which seemed so much less hot and crowded. The shade at AK makes such a big difference. The kids were getting miserable at HS and asking to just leave and go back to the hotel. It was rough. AK saved it. Lines for what we went on ranged from walk on to 25 mins posted but may have been actually less. We hit kali first to cool off, then Dinosaur and safari, then dinner at Yak and Yeti.

Fri (yesterday) - we picked this day as a relaxation day and I am so glad. After a couple of hours at the pool at the Gaylord Palms- the pool area here is incredible especially for kids, with lots of slides and an amazing climbing structure in addition to the pools and hot tubs - we went on to Blizzard Beach. We took a Lyft over and got there shortly after opening. We did some slides and the wave pool (walked onto team boat springs, toboggan racers), short wait for slush gushers, did two cycles of the very long lazy river. Spent a little over 4 hours here, and it was never super crowded. We had lunch at Lottawatta. It was very relaxing. We headed out just as a storm hit a bit after 4. We headed back to the hotel for dinner, laundry, resting and movie.

Today we check into the Contemporary and then have another morning at HS to hit some of what we missed and an afternoon at Epcot. We have had a great start to the trip!

 

[jbish]

No, at Beach Club, "2 queen beds" is not a bookable category. You can only book your room view (Standard, Garden or Water view) and then within those categories, Disney has discretion to assign you to any of the following based on availability and party size:

• 2 Queen Beds and 1 Day Bed
• 2 Queen Beds
• 1 King Bed and 1 Day Bed
• 1 King Bed

It's all explained here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/beach-club-resort/rates-rooms/

We had a bad experience with this at BC where we as a family of 5 were given 2 Queen Beds and I inquired if we could move to a room with 2 Queens and a day bed and was told none were available. We slept very uncomfortably 3 in one bed all week and that was the last time I ever stayed at BC. Now we only ever book a room where we are guaranteed enough sleeping surfaces for our family.

Ugh. What a terrible experience. Add a family of five, I can truly empathize. Now my kids are 11-14, so sleeping three in one bed, especially a queen (??!!) would have been awful. This trip we were at boardwalk villas (and I had been curious about beach club for a future trip), which was a king, and one Queen with a queen sleeper. My teenage daughter slept in the sleeper sofa and it was uncomfortable for her. We then moved to bay lake where she got her own bed and slept much more comfortably. Dedicated two bedrooms (one that has two queens) are the way to go for us. Well, until my boys are two big to share one bed. Ugh. Another problem for another day.

 

[yorkieteacher]

Observations on our past week at Disney-
Rope drop is back at all parks- the two my family tolerated at my insistence our first two days, Epcot and Hollywood Studios, did not go well for us. In general, we found wait times overinflated in all 4 parks from 10-30 minutes. No distancing, no spaces between parties in shows or rides, and only a handful in masks. Glad things are back to normal. We like mobile ordering as we always order, hit I'm Here prepare my order, then walk to restaurant for maybe a 5 minute wait when we arrive. No trouble finding seats, even at Woody's Lunch Box, because you have to have your order ready before you enter. We use Mobile order at Woody's, Flame Tree, and Regal Eagle. Check in on your TS ressies 20 minutes early if you are anywhere near there and you have no wait when you arrive. We had to wait about 15-20 minutes to be seated after our check ins.

We arrived at IG at Epcot on Saturday our first day at 10, walking from Yacht Club, were allowed through security at 1015, and held at the rocks in Canada until 1035. We rushed to Test Track to a posted 90 minute wait. We were inside the building at 1130 when it broke down for 20 minutes. But we did get to design a car! Tip-go to Frozen or Soarin" first unless you are literally at the head of the pack- lines go slightly down for Test Track-lowest we saw was 60 minutes. We rode Soarin' twice-first we lucked up and were seated on B2, 2nd day C3-what a difference without distortion! The crispy pork belly at Citrus Blossom was SO GOOD! Second day at Epcot on Monday we had a pool morning and entered at 1pm, and saw no difference in lines. Don't rope drop Epcot.

HS- First day on Sunday , walking from Yacht Club, arrived at 8-Held in a long line until 815 to go through security, into the three divided lines at 830, and on MMRR at 845. Loved the preshow! Smuggler's Run was posted 45, took about 30. ToT posted 40, walked on basically. And saw the preshow! Also rode Star Tours and Midway Mania before our 1130 Brown Derby Ressie. We never got to ride Slinky and I was so sad! The line was always past the entrance to Toy Story Land. My son would not wait in lines that we never saw below 75 minutes after our Test Track disaster. We left at 1 for a break and only came back for our boarding group at 4. Saw Muppets waiting for it to be called. Packed preshow, packed auditorium. Second day at HS on Tuesday we entered park at 9 without waiting in any lines for security and tap points, line for MMRR was 40 minutes posted. MMRR broke down when we were almost in the building after a 25 minute wait, so we came back later and had about a 40 minute wait again, which was the only correct posted time we had the entire trip.. One side of Saucers also broken down so we skipped it until later in the day. On Sunday, our first HS day, we could not get boarding group from the Yacht Club, but no trouble at 1pm inside the park. We didn't hear of anyone inside the park not being able to get it at 1. Our group time said 260 minutes, but it kept shrinking and we were called at 445. On both days, Slinky was longest lines of any rides in any of the 4 parks.

On Wednesday son refused to rope drop AK. AK is so hot and humid, as usual. We arrived by car at 1030, rode Dinosaur with a 15 minute wait posted 25, grands walked on Triceratops Spin, and Everest basically walking through the queue although posted wait was 30. We used rider swap as one grand is 40 inches-she would have ridden it and loved it as she is a thrill seeker already! Walked the Jungle Trek and ate at Yak n Yeti for our 1130 ressie. Tough to Be A Bug was a walk on. Rode Safari with a 30 minute posted wait which was a walk on, did Gorilla Fall, then did have a 60 minute posted wait at Navi and were on it in 30. 90 minute posted wait at FOP, were on it in 50, used rider swap and second party off ride in 10 minutes. Rode Kali posted at 65 minutes at 6, walked on. Left the park just prior to closing after having done . Unfortunately, son now believed no need to rope drop ever, soooooo-----

Thursday at MK, arrived at 930 by our car to what seemed the biggest crowd of our trip. Rode Peter Pan and Small World by 1030, cut through to Adventureland to the crowds. Rode Carpets, off by 11. Had a ressie at BOG at 1130, Daughter in law wanted pictures made in front of castle (we had memory maker and used it liberally) on the way so we headed there, arriving about 5 minutes after they texted our table was ready, but we were seated immediately. I had checked in 20 minutes early as usual but those pictures! After lunch we rode Pooh with a posted 30 minute wait in about 20 minutes, Haunted Mansion with a posted 20 minute wait in 10, and the stretching room is back! Rode Big Thunder with a 15 minute wait, posted 20, Pirates with a 40 minute posted wait in 30, and Jungle Cruise-my son's favorite ride, posted 55 minute wait and it took 45 in the crowded queue for a ride that currently needs those new scenes added quickly as it is sadly lacking. They were ready to leave to go to the pool. We never entered Tomorrowland! We didn't see the Tiki Room or ride People Mover! I was sad! We didn't ride Splash as it was down most of the day or Mine Train for the same reason. We didn't ride Buzz! Oh well it will be there when we come back in 2023-

Final observations. We love the calvacades, mobile ordering, no masks in the 95 degree heat, and the fact that most rides are not long waits. THe kids loved playing in the reopened Dumbo's Circus tent , Imagination Pavilion, arcades, and Pooh's Playground! Open them all! Like the Boneyard which was not open. Open the interactive queue at HM. The CM's are all amazing and friendly and helpful. We saw dozens of them being trained. around the parks, restaurants, and resorts. All the food tasted sooo good! Epcot needs more rides- when Remy and Guardians open maybe Test Track won't be a horror. Too many rides break down frequently. Splash, Mine Train, Saucers, Slinky, MMRR, Test Track all had issues during our visit. More shows need to open to eat the crowds-We love riding the Skyliner as a ride, but would hate to depend on it for transportation. They don't run boats or the Skyliner during any wind or rain which I understand, so we had to walk back to Yacht Club in one of the storms to make a reservation on time. Son refused to walk to Epcot one evening in a horrible storm, and we missed a reservation and were charged $50 for it. I may try to call and see if they will refund that one-I did call and cancel it but it was an hour away at that point so......

The magic was still there for us. 2022 we have a Disney Cruise scheduled and 2023 we will be back. Looking at AK Lodge as we have never stayed there, we usually drive, and the grands like resort time as much as park time. I hear the activities there are wonderful when they start them back.