Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[mzozzietj]

Ummmm.....we're keeping our masks on the entire time.

I like the idea of the lanyards for when we remove masks to eat/drink so we don't accidentally drop/put them down on tables etc.

 

[mzozzietj]

Anyone have experience with Summer crowds after Aug 14th. I know most southern schools are back in session. Was hoping we would see a big downtrend in crowds...anyone experience that

We do but I feel like any prior year trends may be irrelevant this year. We have gone late august in 2019 and 2018 and loved the lower crowds. From the looks of this year it won't be quiet though.

 

[Marvin1968]

Ummmm.....we're keeping our masks on the entire time.

Outside? Yikes!

 

[gcoolie]

Anyone have experience with Summer crowds after Aug 14th. I know most southern schools are back in session. Was hoping we would see a big downtrend in crowds...anyone experience that

Touring Plans has a lot less red in their crowd calendar after August 23rd. I'm hopeful it will hold up. We are going on the 25th.

 

[rainyvegandisney]

.

 

[lovethattink]

Second full HS day today. Today, July 30 is the shift back to masks in some areas. I will update this thread regarding the new mask policies at the attractions we go to! We plan to get to Hollywood studios around 8 AM

Got BG 10 this morning! Our plan is to do MFSR at rope drop since that was our longest standby wait of our four days so far at 90 minutes. Then maybe MMRR before our BG is called

Through security at 7:58 AM. Let through tapstiles at 8 AM, being held in front of “Vacation Fun” next to frozen theater until 8:30am.
View attachment 593297

Just spoke with Tran, one of the lead cast members. So far it is sounding like it is strictly inside buildings or entering an attraction marquee (which is where it lists the standby and fast pass return times) that we have to wear masks. So some of it may be outside depending on the ride. Will update

At the very front of the line for MFSR this morning.
View attachment 593310
Very orderly progression. Crazy how some people are still jockeying for position, even still. In the ride queue at 8:40am. On ride at 8:48am. Soooo much better doing it this way than waiting 90 minutes after we did tower of terror and rock n roller coaster the other day. Ok I just walked past the start of the line for MFSR, it is longer than the other day when it took us 90 minutes. I can’t stress enough getting to the park at 8 AM if you want to do MFSR with a little wait. Off MFSR at 9 AM.

9:13 AM, in line for MMRR. Posted 85 minutes. On in 36 minutes. Touring Plans estimated 34 minutes BTW. Masks are NOT required in the extended outside portion of queues. Masks start once you go through the marquee entrance. In some cases some of that may be outside.

loved MMRR! Fantastic visuals and imaginative.
View attachment 593330

10:12am Going for some coffee and snacks now.

11:15 AM. Getting in line for Muppets 3-D since all the rides are at peak waits right now.

ROTR is down a lot today so far. Our group was called but it’s down again. Was told we can return any time before park close. Glad we have an early boarding group

View attachment 593363
Prime Time Cafe at 12:10pm today. Great comfort food and the atmosphere is so cool.

1:04 OK heading to ROTR then back to the resort to nap. I will say that mask compliance inside of the appropriate areas has been very good here at Hollywood studios today. No mean interactions with CM’s that I have seen yet.

Dan

Thanks for the report. Are masks still buy one get one free, or are they back to full price?

 

[focusondisney]

Anyone have experience with Summer crowds after Aug 14th. I know most southern schools are back in session. Was hoping we would see a big downtrend in crowds...anyone experience that

I think a lot will depend on what schools do. If a lot of schools stay remote, kids can check in from anywhere & crowds might stay high. If back in person, I think crowds could level off

 

[focusondisney]

Thanks for the report. Are masks still buy one get one free, or are they back to full price?

A relative there now said back to regular price.

 

[Conquer1]

Outside? Yikes!

Yep. Doesn't bother me at all. I'm not hotter with a mask on, than without, and can breathe just fine in the heat with a mask on.

 

[rlk]

Not mask related- we were watching the Gibbons by the Kali exit, some guy tried lighting the candles on the railing. The CM asked him not to do that and he yelled that there is a sign saying he could light them. When the CM said he could not light them he then flipped her off. She was visibly upset and asked us to stay around (as proof)while she told another CM. She is worried the guy will go to complain about her.

 

[disny_luvr]

If we play mini golf while on our trip, will masks be required?

 

[shm_helene]

Report from 7/29:

HS
Staying at Beach Club, DVC. We walked to HS, took us about 20 mins. We were at the entrance at 8:05 and held at the arches to Toy Story Land by 8:30 (or close to). We stayed to the right. We entered the queue around 8:35 and we were on the ride at 8:47 and 8:49 (two different cars) (off 8:51). We then went to TSMM, in line at 8:55 and on ride at 9:13, off 9:19. We then went right to Saucers, got in line at 9:24 (listed wait 20 mins) and off ride at 9:41. We decided to head over to GE, which we had never been to before (we failed getting a RoR). Queue for MFSR was listed at 100 mins, wasn't moving, and I swear went to the entrance to GE (but that could just be my vague memory). We walked to the front and went on single rider (there are 4 of us and we were fine not being on the same "ship"). We got into the line at 9:50, preshot at 9:58, done with ride by 10:04. Usually we like to walk around "One Man's Dream", but the girls were hot by this point and we decided to head back to the hotel via skyliner after some shopping. We got in line for skyliner at 12:03 with no wait and it took maybe 25 mins altogether.

FOOD
We ate in our rooms and did the Kitchen Sink at Beach Club for breakfast / lunch. We asked for no peanuts, our server asked if we had any allergies and we said no, but they didn't do the peanut butter sauce or Snickers, so that was a little disappointing.

EPCOT
It rained pretty hard yesterday afternoon and a lot of things got shut down (Test Track was only open for about a 15 min window all night). We headed over to Epcot around 4, probably a little earlier than we should have went. We headed to Spaceship Earth and got in line at 4:31. Posted wait was 25 minutes and off by 4:55. Line was much shorter when we got off though (which I know, but we had nothing else to do). We headed over to The Seas With Nemo. Posted wait was 15 mins and it was completely walkon, this was at 5:10. We explored at the seas a little bit to let lines fall off at the Land as much as possible. We got to the land and I don't know what the posted time was (sorry!) but Living with the Land was walk on. So many new things on this ride in the green houses this time. We got on the ride at 6. We headed to Soarin', which was posted 20 mins at 6:15, we were off the ride by 6:41. After that we explored the World a bit in the drizzle. Tried food from Hawaii, Greece, Germany, Canada and Appleseed. All was good except the apple desserts at Appleseed and Germany. completed the Ratatouille scavenger hunt (spoiler alert: make sure you explore the gardens in Japan and China)

HOTEL
Pool isn't too crowded! Yay! Haven't noticed the garbage issues that others have talked about. TV is questionable. Says we get NBC Sports, but couldnt find it so we had to stream the USWNT game today (7/30). (WOO WOO), which was a tad frustrating.

MASKS / COVID
Compliance is good. We did one day at Universal, where we saw a lot of masks (more that at Disney), it was right about 20% of people relatively consistently. We have dealt with COVID before despite being super careful and have no desire to quarantine again, so we've used KN94 masks off of Amazon (they are awesome, by the way). We wear them at all times unless we are outside and we aren't around people. We have chosen to not eat indoors anywhere (except once, at Leaky Cauldron) and will skip some indoor stuff. I know people are worried about how hot it is, but truthfully it really doesn't bother me that much, nor do my kids (girls, 9 and 11). We've noticed a decent amount of sanitizer stations have sanitizer, but they are slow.

WEATHER
It's been hot, but truthfully, we have had a decent amount of cloud cover and it hasn't been as oppressive as I remember some trips in the past. Seems morning is the worst, before the clouds and breeze move in. I am from PA so by no means used this level of heat consistently. We have an umbrella but I wish we also had one of those fans I see people wearing around their necks as well.

PHOTOPASS
Between HS and Epcot yesterday we saw 2. Today was better (will update today later today or tomorrow).

 

[scrappinginontario]

A relative there now said back to regular price.

I'm guessing many were caught by surprise and may not have had enough with them. Hope they have enough in stock for those who are looking to purchase them.

 

[DaniMoon]

Report from 7/29:

HS
Staying at Beach Club, DVC. We walked to HS, took us about 20 mins. We were at the entrance at 8:05 and held at the arches to Toy Story Land by 8:30 (or close to). We stayed to the right. We entered the queue around 8:35 and we were on the ride at 8:47 and 8:49 (two different cars) (off 8:51). We then went to TSMM, in line at 8:55 and on ride at 9:13, off 9:19. We then went right to Saucers, got in line at 9:24 (listed wait 20 mins) and off ride at 9:41. We decided to head over to GE, which we had never been to before (we failed getting a RoR). Queue for MFSR was listed at 100 mins, wasn't moving, and I swear went to the entrance to GE (but that could just be my vague memory). We walked to the front and went on single rider (there are 4 of us and we were fine not being on the same "ship"). We got into the line at 9:50, preshot at 9:58, done with ride by 10:04. Usually we like to walk around "One Man's Dream", but the girls were hot by this point and we decided to head back to the hotel via skyliner after some shopping. We got in line for skyliner at 12:03 with no wait and it took maybe 25 mins altogether.

FOOD
We ate in our rooms and did the Kitchen Sink at Beach Club for breakfast / lunch. We asked for no peanuts, our server asked if we had any allergies and we said no, but they didn't do the peanut butter sauce or Snickers, so that was a little disappointing.

EPCOT
It rained pretty hard yesterday afternoon and a lot of things got shut down (Test Track was only open for about a 15 min window all night). We headed over to Epcot around 4, probably a little earlier than we should have went. We headed to Spaceship Earth and got in line at 4:31. Posted wait was 25 minutes and off by 4:55. Line was much shorter when we got off though (which I know, but we had nothing else to do). We headed over to The Seas With Nemo. Posted wait was 15 mins and it was completely walkon, this was at 5:10. We explored at the seas a little bit to let lines fall off at the Land as much as possible. We got to the land and I don't know what the posted time was (sorry!) but Living with the Land was walk on. So many new things on this ride in the green houses this time. We got on the ride at 6. We headed to Soarin', which was posted 20 mins at 6:15, we were off the ride by 6:41. After that we explored the World a bit in the drizzle. Tried food from Hawaii, Greece, Germany, Canada and Appleseed. All was good except the apple desserts at Appleseed and Germany. completed the Ratatouille scavenger hunt (spoiler alert: make sure you explore the gardens in Japan and China)

HOTEL
Pool isn't too crowded! Yay! Haven't noticed the garbage issues that others have talked about. TV is questionable. Says we get NBC Sports, but couldnt find it so we had to stream the USWNT game today (7/30). (WOO WOO), which was a tad frustrating.

MASKS / COVID
Compliance is good. We did one day at Universal, where we saw a lot of masks (more that at Disney), it was right about 20% of people relatively consistently. We have dealt with COVID before despite being super careful and have no desire to quarantine again, so we've used KN94 masks off of Amazon (they are awesome, by the way). We wear them at all times unless we are outside and we aren't around people. We have chosen to not eat indoors anywhere (except once, at Leaky Cauldron) and will skip some indoor stuff. I know people are worried about how hot it is, but truthfully it really doesn't bother me that much, nor do my kids (girls, 9 and 11). We've noticed a decent amount of sanitizer stations have sanitizer, but they are slow.

WEATHER
It's been hot, but truthfully, we have had a decent amount of cloud cover and it hasn't been as oppressive as I remember some trips in the past. Seems morning is the worst, before the clouds and breeze move in. I am from PA so by no means used this level of heat consistently. We have an umbrella but I wish we also had one of those fans I see people wearing around their necks as well.

PHOTOPASS
Between HS and Epcot yesterday we saw 2. Today was better (will update today later today or tomorrow).

We love Living with the Land, so I'm glad to see that we will some some new things!

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

[harleyquinn]

View attachment 593363
Prime Time Cafe at 12:10pm today. Great comfort food and the atmosphere is so cool.

1:04 OK heading to ROTR then back to the resort to nap. I will say that mask compliance inside of the appropriate areas has been very good here at Hollywood studios today. No mean interactions with CM’s that I have seen yet.

Dan

Is it just me or does poor Sulley look like an overheated animal panting?

 

[kkbookmom]

Is it just me or does poor Sulley look like an overheated animal panting?

It kinda looked like Sulley was being escorted out by the Green Army people.

 

[DisneyFive]

Thanks for the report. Are masks still buy one get one free, or are they back to full price?

Haven’t really been in a gift shop today yet. Once we head back after dinner I will try to look

Dan

Is it just me or does poor Sulley look like an overheated animal panting?

LOL . No doubt. Poor Sulley. It does feel particularly hot this afternoon. I just happened to catch him with his arms down. He was waving around just before that

Dan

 

[sjrec]

I'm guessing many were caught by surprise and may not have had enough with them. Hope they have enough in stock for those who are looking to purchase them.

We noticed CMs holding stacks of masks at various entrances to give out if needed.

 

[loves to dive]

That's what I did a couple times.

I used lanyards when I was there in April, when you even had to wear your mask outside. When I would get something from a booth at F&G and find my table to stand at, I'd flip the mask around to my back so I didn't drop food on it and didn't accidently touch it with my hands until after I had cleaned them. Worked great for me. The ones I got are adjustable and you can slid the part in the back to whatever position you need so it isn't pulling on your ears.

 

[rpfennig]

Did they put a single rider in with you for Smugglers Run? We’re a family of 5, too, and have enjoyed not sharing ride vehicles our last two trips. We go again in a week, and I’m curious what to expect this time.

I don’t know about today, but yesterday,I was put in a vehicle with a family of 3.

It's too bad they don't just grab six random single riders every once and awhile... "We're putting together a crack team of experts for this run. Smiles and Giggles you're our pilots, Dazed and Confused you're on guns, Guy With Glasses and You, Yeah You! are our engineers. Make us proud out there and try and bring the ship back in one piece or you're paying for it!"