Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[cdurham1]

I am very confused. Last poster said it felt like no one was in WS. Immediately previous poster was at EPCOT on the very same day and said it felt like "pre Covid levels."

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I just did a quick weekend trip and swung by Cabana Bay…must say I was impressed I stay at Coronado springs this year too and the theming and level of detail is on par with Disney.

 

[Princess Katelet]

Does anyone know if there is something happening at Epcot this weekend? Just went to rearrange our park reservations and saw both Friday and Saturday Epcot is the only park fully booked.

Also, went to boo bash last night, it was a lot of fun but definitely not after hours crowds. Fortunately after reading reports here we didn't expect the empty park feel so it wasn't a surprise. I'd say the crowds were more in line with a MNSSHP back in 2016/2017. Most rides were still either walk on or 5ish minute waits, but the walkways were pretty crowded to the point it really slowed us down moving around the park. ToT was ok, they were only giving out like 2-3 pieces of candy at each stop, we circled the park twice to ToT and still only ended up with our bags half full.

Wish the event was longer, 3 hours is not nearly enough to get everything done. We still had a great time though. Photopass pictures ended being the biggest time suck, usually 15-20 minute waits, but the shots came out great!

Wait…Boo Bash is in the Studios?? I thought it was in MK. But you’re mentioning Tower of Terror and trick or treating around it.

 

[Naomeri]

Wait…Boo Bash is in the Studios?? I thought it was in MK. But you’re mentioning Tower of Terror and trick or treating around it.

By “ToT” they meant “trick-or-treating” not Tower of Terror. It threw me for a second too, but since Boo Bash is definitely only in MK, I figured out what they were talking about.

 

[VAtink]

Wait…Boo Bash is in the Studios?? I thought it was in MK. But you’re mentioning Tower of Terror and trick or treating around it.

Oh yeah, it's in MK, sorry for the confusion, ToT was trick or treat, trying to save from typing that out multiple times on my phone

 

[PPFlight75]

Club Cool has had a stupid long line all day for the opening. This is 30 minutes before park close.

View attachment 605125

Epcot was pretty busy today, but lines have been mostly manageable outside of Club Cool and the food booths. I kind of feel we’re back to pre-COVID levels. Maybe even busier.

I read that Club Cool was one party per station for now. I wonder if that is what is causing the long lines in addition to it just reopening.

 

[VAtink]

I am very confused. Last poster said it felt like no one was in WS. Immediately previous poster was at EPCOT on the very same day and said it felt like "pre Covid levels."

Could have been different areas of the park, we never made it up to future world yesterday. Guessing with the opening of stuff up there it was more crowded than WS. Between France and Norway yesterday evening the crowds were really low, it was awesome.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I am very confused. Last poster said it felt like no one was in WS. Immediately previous poster was at EPCOT on the very same day and said it felt like "pre Covid levels."

the feeling of crowds can be very subjective based on personal experiences and expectations. ‘Crowds’ really iare such a personal
thing based on so many factors.

 

[Leigh L]

Oh yeah, it's in MK, sorry for the confusion, ToT was trick or treat, trying to save from typing that out multiple times on my phone

It took me a few minutes to figure out the ToT too. Ok, actually, a few hours And I should have known because anywhere but here I would have written trick or treating as ToT too!!

 

[kmrobins03]

We were last at WDW in April.

Are the parks still opening/running rides a half-hour early, or is it back to a more normal rope-drop?

Trying to decide how early we should get to MK tomorrow AM + HS on Sunday AM.

magic kingdom is not opening rides half hour early. I think some other parks are- like HS and AK

 

[Dentam]

Just arrived home from our trip about an hour ago. Overall, crowd levels were definitely higher than what we were hoping for based on reports from the weeks leading up to our trip. Epcot was the most crowded and I'm pretty sure that last Saturday evening there was the source of the sore throat that I came down with halfway through my flight home tonight. Had a few chills as well but those have disappeared and just a mild sore throat still. We'll see what tomorrow brings and I will definitely be getting tested and waiting for all symptoms to go away as well as a negative test before returning to work.

We went to Boo Bash on Tuesday evening and agree with the previous poster who said it was more crowded than a typical After Hours event and should be an hour longer in order to get more done.

Overall, we still had a great trip but were missing the super low crowds and social distancing of last year's Sept trip.

I'll update this thread once I know my test results. I would say if you're planning to go, know that the crowds are higher and social distancing is non-existent now. Mask compliance was also hit and miss, especially in restrooms and on the buses.

 

[serenitygr]

Just arrived home from our trip about an hour ago. Overall, crowd levels were definitely higher than what we were hoping for based on reports from the weeks leading up to our trip. Epcot was the most crowded and I'm pretty sure that last Saturday evening there was the source of the sore throat that I came down with halfway through my flight home tonight. Had a few chills as well but those have disappeared and just a mild sore throat still. We'll see what tomorrow brings and I will definitely be getting tested and waiting for all symptoms to go away as well as a negative test before returning to work.

We went to Boo Bash on Tuesday evening and agree with the previous poster who said it was more crowded than a typical After Hours event and should be an hour longer in order to get more done.

Overall, we still had a great trip but were missing the super low crowds and social distancing of last year's Sept trip.

I'll update this thread once I know my test results. I would say if you're planning to go, know that the crowds are higher and social distancing is non-existent now. Mask compliance was also hit and miss, especially in restrooms and on the buses.

Hope you feel better soon! Just checking if you wore masks outside, or just inside and on transportation?

 

[Dentam]

Hope you feel better soon! Just checking if you wore masks outside, or just inside and on transportation?

Inside and on transportation as well as outside when it got crowded. We did dine indoors as well, and some of the restaurants were too crowded for my comfort - Nine Dragons is the one that comes to mind with too many people and the tables too close together. I kept my mask on until our food arrived but still... not something I would recommend. I'm fully vaccinated and just hoping that I have a mild cold or if it is covid, that my vaccination status will help keep my symptoms very mild. I will say that they are cramming the buses full and many people wear their mask on and then put it down under their nose or under their chin. On the last bus we took, a woman just walked on without one and the bus driver didn't say a word. Most of the bus drivers were at least attempting to enforce it, but there are always those people who think the rules shouldn't apply to them.

 

[VAtink]

Yesterday was another morning at animal kingdom. Decided to skip FoP this morning so we would have more time for photopass pictures and walking the trails. Started at the safari at 8, and the line was backed up to the stroller drop off point, ended up being a 15 minute wait, was posted as 5. Thinking maybe they just hadn't opened yet when we got there for there to be that line.

The safari was ok this morning, lots of animals not out yet and the savanna didn't have nearly as many animals as normal. Still got to see the baby giraffe which was sooo cute!

Next we headed to EE. EE was empty, when we got to the loading the CM told us to just go down to any row that was empty, which was all of them. Almost had a train to ourselves, one other family showed up at the last minute and got on.

Did the jungle trail after EE, it was nice doing that early before it got crowded. Didn't open until 9, but there was still hardly anyone there. Got pooped on in the aviary, but apparently that's good luck so I guess that's ok. Funny enough, almost all our driver's animal facts on the safari were about animal poop, so apparently that was the theme of the morning.

Did the ToL trails next, found the tiny world photopass back there which came out great! Finally at 10:30 got in line for Nomad. We were the first in line, and it built quickly, by 10:35 there were about a dozen groups in line. Once again they let us in at 10:50. We grabbed a table up against the railing outside.

One thing to note, this is the only restaurant we've been to this trip that will not give you a paper menu if you ask, you need to use your phone. Since my mom doesn't have a smart phone, and she struggles to see the text on mine, I had to read her the menu. Seems odd they don't have a spare paper one, they did in Tiffins, and if if it had just been my parents there they'd be out of luck since neither of them have smart phones.

Also, you can no longer get the octopus appetizer from Tiffins while at Nomad. I was able to in April, but not this trip.

Nomad was great as always, very relaxing. They did add more tables than last time, so there isn't a lot of space along the railing for people to come watch the cavalcades go by anymore, and since the tables along the railing are all two seaters, the families with kids had to sit at the tables that didn't get a view of the cavalcades. This did lead to a slightly awkward lunch, whenever a cavalcade came by a family would come hover over us, and even lift up a kid over my moms head for a better view. Definitely awkward to have a kid hovering over your head while you try to eat.

We headed out after lunch, and later around 4 made it over to Epcot. It started to rain shortly after arriving, but we had umbrellas and ponchos so didn't mind. The rain was actually nice, it cleared the lines to the food booths so we hardly had any wait. We ate at the Tangerine cafe, Greece, and Italy and the food was good, but nothing outstanding worth mentioning.

Made our way to the front of the park to check out the new store. It was pretty underwhelming. I preferred the old Mouse Gears. Did try the mobile checkout which was great, love not having to wait in the checkout line!

Did soarin with about a 10 minute wait and journey into imagination with no wait before heading back to the food booths.

It was about 7 at this point, and still raining, so we were shocked to see how crowded WS had gotten. Figured the rain would keep people away, we were wrong! Since we didn't feel like dealing with the crowds we just stopped at one more booth, Ireland, before heading out.

Oh, and oddly, saw a bunch of people smoking in Epcot last night, and in front of CMs who didn't say a thing. Really surprised us, haven't seen anyone smoking outside of the designated areas in years!

Got another day in Epcot today, with it being fully booked we're a bit worried about how crowded it'll be, but hopefully the crowds don't show up til later in the day after we're done!

 

[Helvetica]

I’m starting at Magic Kingdom this morning. I didn’t get there early enough to be at the front of the pack for SDMT, so I’m starting at Space Mountain instead. (I was busy getting in my order for the new iPhone.)

My Remy preview in the afternoon, so we’ll see where I end up. I expect that since it’s Friday that it will be busier than earlier on in the week.

 

[The13thLetter]

Oh, and oddly, saw a bunch of people smoking in Epcot last night, and in front of CMs who didn't say a thing. Really surprised us, haven't seen anyone smoking outside of the designated areas in years!

i noticed this too during our trip at the end of august. i usually see 1 or 2 vaping over the last few years, but this trip on several occasions saw people smoking cigarettes and smelled weed a few times at the parks in addition to the vaping.

 

[Distriv]

We headed out after lunch, and later around 4 made it over to Epcot. It started to rain shortly after arriving, but we had umbrellas and ponchos so didn't mind.

I've never thought about bringing an umbrella to the parks. Do you use a compact one and do you find it's easy to store/keep hold of on rides?

 

[EddieValiant]

This is my 3rd Studios day, it's the worst out of Mon, Tues, and today. Monday was the best, followed by Tuesday. Today I got on Slinky Dog at rope drop, off the ride in 20 min. Had BG 4. Did the Falcon once and single rider to go again. Midway Mania line currently extending outside the entrance, longest I've seen this week.

 

[loves to dive]

We were there last week and while it certainly wasn't as slow a people were reporting the week before, it wasn't horrible by our standards. It was a 45 min. wait for FoP around 10:30 am so not bad. The wait for MMRR at HS was about 1/2 hour around 11 am. MF was around 45 min. at about the same time of day (we did two day as HS). We were at Epcot every afternoon/evening. The lines for booths were not long but it rained every single day, some days pretty bad so a lot of the booths would close down and when they re-opened you had to pay at the window instead of at the line and that really slowed things down. Friday night around 8 or 8:30 it was getting really crowded in WS, bad enough that we left and we never do that, but we did have a baby with us and it was late. I would say it was along the same level as the bottle neck at MK between Small World and PP.

Our CM interactions were really great. My son's SO was walking around the big store in MK with a few items in her arms and a CM chased her down to give her a bag. We were getting a stein at a booth in Epcot for my son and there wasn't a place to pay at the booth. We asked the CM and she told us we had to go to the store in Germany (which we knew couldn't be since it was a special F&W item) but we did. The CM's there were totally perplexed, one went and asked the manager and they said nope so she walked with us to the booth and got the item and took it over to a cash register and waited until we paid to make sure everything was o.k. We got her name and put in a good word at GS for her. I upgraded my ticket to an AP at the IG at Epcot and the CM there was fast and very polite and very helpful. We were getting pictures printed at Epcot and the CM noticed the baby, after we had exited the store she came running out with a first visit button asking if she had one yet and when we told her no, took us back in the store to put her name on it and take a picture. I was walking around with the sleeping baby in the stroller while Mom and Dad rode RoTR and went to One Man's Dream to get some AC. The CM at the door told me I had to park the stroller and when I said never mind because the baby was asleep, she told me she didn't see me and to go on in. The baby woke up right when we got in and started crying so we left right away but I was very grateful to be able to get even a 30 sec. AC break. It was like that the entire trip, not a bad interaction the entire time.

 

[iheartglaciers]

I've never thought about bringing an umbrella to the parks. Do you use a compact one and do you find it's easy to store/keep hold of on rides?

I bring one of the micro sized umbrellas from Totes. It’s small enough to fit in a crossbody bag.