Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[subtchr]

I’m throwing park hopping into my ILL/Genie + experience and would love some strategy feedback. We’ll head to Epcot in the morning and then to MK that evening to take advantage of extended hours. I’d like to get GotG and Tron ILL, and definitely wouldn’t mind a GotG boarding group as well if I’m lucky enough.
1. What order should I book those? Boarding group first, or the ILLs? Tron before GotG?
2. I can’t remember if I get to select my times for ILL, but I will (obviously) need morning for GotG an afternoon or evening Tron. Does that impact the order I select?
3. Sounds like I should skip the BG for Tron during the 6pm drop because people are spending most of the extra hours in line.
4. Any other advice?

1. At 7:00:00 - GotG VQ

2. Purchase Tron ILL for the time you'd like.

3. Purchase GotG ILL for the time you'd like.

4. Depending what time you get to MK, check to see if the 1:00 VQ is still available. Sometimes it is still available after park hopping time. Not as often as Guardians, but it's always worth checking.

5. Grab the extra hour VQ at 6:00:00 pm.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I’m throwing park hopping into my ILL/Genie + experience and would love some strategy feedback. We’ll head to Epcot in the morning and then to MK that evening to take advantage of extended hours. I’d like to get GotG and Tron ILL, and definitely wouldn’t mind a GotG boarding group as well if I’m lucky enough.
1. What order should I book those? Boarding group first, or the ILLs? Tron before GotG?
2. I can’t remember if I get to select my times for ILL, but I will (obviously) need morning for GotG an afternoon or evening Tron. Does that impact the order I select?
3. Sounds like I should skip the BG for Tron during the 6pm drop because people are spending most of the extra hours in line.
4. Any other advice?

This is the here now and just back reporting thread. You are looking for the park planning sub forum here.

 

[mkh531]

We just got back yesterday. At the beginning of the week I was very annoyed with the Genie, VQ and Genie+ systems as I really liked the fastpass system and had to learn everything again. Also, there seemed to be less “magic” at the parks…fewer stage shows at MK, fewer random performers and characters. However by the end of the week I did see more of it…maybe because we finally paid for Genie+ and didn’t spend all of our time standing in long lines? I dontknow. Whatever it is, every cast member….every single one from the bus drivers to front desk staff to dining workers to ride operators…every single one was amazing, and that’s what keeps us coming back.

Anyhow, I truly despise the Genie + system…every day was chaotic because we didn’t have advanced plans so there was so much stopping and saying “what should we do next” in the baking heat. Also, we were traveling w a group of two families…so we had to discuss each night who was paying for Genie+, who wasn’t, how we would handle it, etc. It doesn’t need to be like this. Given that they’ve taken away magical express they should just give Genie+ or at least a few lightning Lanes to everyone staying at a Disney Resort.

I really Miss Magical express and that feeling of being in the Disney bubble pretty much as soon as I board my plane. Also because there is no ME they also don’t do the airline check in. It’s just a lot less magical. Yet, we will probably book another trip this week with a bounce back offer.

 

[han22735]

We are here now and boy are crowd high. So much for late August low crowds. Between the crowds and the constant ride downtime it's been busy. HS today was crazy long lines but not terrible in the walkways. Thank God for genie. We got to ride everything plus tot and Mickey's twice. I wasn't paying for rise plus it was down so much waits were crazy

 

[gottalovepluto]

We are here now and boy are crowd high. So much for late August low crowds. Between the crowds and the constant ride downtime it's been busy. HS today was crazy long lines but not terrible in the walkways. Thank God for genie. We got to ride everything plus tot and Mickey's twice. I wasn't paying for rise plus it was down so much waits were crazy

Hard to gauge crowds with so much down. DHS is sounding like a disaster this summer

 

[han22735]

Hard to gauge crowds with so much down. DHS is sounding like a disaster this summer

Yup. Rise, tower and mickeys railroad all down together for quite a while plus Rockin didn't open till 11:30.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Hard to gauge crowds with so much down. DHS is sounding like a disaster this summer

we were at DHS 2.5 wks ago and Rise, MMRR, SDD, RnRC all went down at some point during the day. Not deal killers but crowds shifts really were all over the place.

For all, TP lines app will include estimated return to service times in their app for rides that are down, not always but many times, and a lot of times their estimated times are accurate which is a good thing to know for planning.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Just returned from 9 nights-6 at Boardwalk 3 at Pop. Loved both hotels! No issues with the Skyliner, busses, or friendship boats. Cast members were great across the board. Plenty of cranky families in the heat (mine included!) but nothing outrageous.

I’m very glad we have passes because the heat was so brutal this trip that we only spent a few hours at a time in the parks. Less pressure/guilt and it gave us more time to enjoy the resorts. Crowds were pretty typical. The only time they felt outright overwhelming was after the parade during MNSSHP.

I have to say that the DAS is just not working as well as it used to with the Genie+ crowd adding to the lines. We have a neurodiverse family and I don’t see how it’s fair that disabled people are not only having to wait longer than the regular queue (we all know those wait times are typically significantly inflated) but worse than that- the lightning lane lines are getting so long that it’s completely defeating the point.

We have no problem fairly waiting our turn in an environment my son can handle, but I do have a problem waiting longer than a typical guest and then getting in another line that’s too long for my kid to handle. My son waited his turn outside of the queue and then when we went to go on SDD the DAS line was so long that he had a meltdown which made the experience stressful for him and those around us. & yes, I’ve brought this up to guest services in the past as well as others have but the lines continue to get worse.

We just got back on Sunday. We didn’t use DAS, but we used LL a lot and also had a wheelchair so we were conscious of crowds around us. I think the big problem is all the ride downtimes. When this happens, you get all those anytime LLs which can cause backup in the LLs. I don’t think we made it through a single day without at least one of our LLs turning into an anytime pass. One of them being SDD.

On a happy note, we only encountered one unfriendly cast member, the rest were amazing! Character interaction was really good this trip. Ariel and Daisy at MK, Chip and Dale at AK, and Pluto at DHS were some of the standouts.
Other guests were mostly okay; witnessed some minor meltdowns (including mine….) Mostly it was just the usual obliviousness.

 

[The Iron Giant]

We’re heading home after an awesome trip. We were here 8/24 through 8/31. No complaints. It was hot but that was to be expected. Weather was great other than the heat with very little rain. Got very lucky with the hurricane too. We hit all 4 parks once and also did MNSSHP on 8/29. We managed to get on just about every ride at each park other than a few minor ones we usually bypass. Cast members were all super helpful and friendly. Also happy to report that we encountered no rude guests. Parks were clean as well. Overall a really awesome trip. A couple of us have some congestion today so I’m fearing we might be bringing covid home with us. But already looking forward to our next trip.

 

[glocon]

I wonder if the lowish wait times today are a result of less people due to the hurricane or because it’s the end of august/beginning of September.
Thoughts?

 

[scrappinginontario]

I wonder if the lowish wait times today are a result of less people due to the hurricane or because it’s the end of august/beginning of September.
Thoughts?

I would think a combo of both. Definitely lower crowds the past 2 days.

 

[The Iron Giant]

One more trip note. We had the water park and more option on our tickets. We had planned to do Typhoon Lagoon our last full day which was yesterday, but Disney closed it due to the hurricane. I called today and asked about a credit since we were unable to use it and they just refunded the difference back to our credit card. Worked out to around $460 for 6 tickets. Cheers to Disney!

 

[kylenne]

I would think a combo of both. Definitely lower crowds the past 2 days.

I flew in yesterday morning and Epcot was slow but MK is dead today even by party day standards. My longest wait so far has been PP at 15 (Posted 30) literally everything else has been walk ons. Mine Train 5 minute wait at 9:20. Starting at early entry at 7:30a I have done:

Space
Buzz Lightyear
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Big Thunder
Tron (VQ called 8:15, rode 8:55)
Mine Train
Peter Pan
HM
Small World
Pooh

And that’s as of 11am or so. I just mobile ordered lunch from Casey’s while in line for Tiana and Rapunzel. Honestly there’s nobody here but British people lol all I’m hearing are Manc and Geordie accents.

 

[jenjersnap]

I am hearing so many anecdotal reports of getting Covid at Disney in the past couple weeks, just curious to know if people are seeing more masks recently?

 

[kylenne]

I am hearing so many anecdotal reports of getting Covid at Disney in the past couple weeks, just curious to know if people are seeing more masks recently?

I am the only person I have seen with a mask on since I got here yesterday. No joke.

 

[elgerber]

I am hearing so many anecdotal reports of getting Covid at Disney in the past couple weeks, just curious to know if people are seeing more masks recently?

We are going at the end of the month, and my 30 year old ds has already requested that we mask up. We both got it there in July of 2022 and had to leave early.

 

[TeamSy]

I am hearing so many anecdotal reports of getting Covid at Disney in the past couple weeks, just curious to know if people are seeing more masks recently?

We were there last week and masked everywhere but outside. All lines, etc. We did eat indoors 2x, masked to and from table but did take masks off to eat. Unfortunately we still came home with Covid. We were not seated near anyone when we ate indoors but waiter did get a bit close. Other than that I guess it’s still possible to get it outside too, esp when crowded. We wore kn95’s. Very bummed

 

[lorileahb]

I flew in yesterday morning and Epcot was slow but MK is dead today even by party day standards. My longest wait so far has been PP at 15 (Posted 30) literally everything else has been walk ons. Mine Train 5 minute wait at 9:20. Starting at early entry at 7:30a I have done:

Space
Buzz Lightyear
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Big Thunder
Tron (VQ called 8:15, rode 8:55)
Mine Train
Peter Pan
HM
Small World
Pooh

And that’s as of 11am or so. I just mobile ordered lunch from Casey’s while in line for Tiana and Rapunzel. Honestly there’s nobody here but British people lol all I’m hearing are Manc and Geordie accents.

For this reason, I'm trying to decide for my one-day birthday trip, should I do Magic Kingdom during the day... or just book party ticket at MK. MK is my favorite, especially at night when it cools off some... BUT, I've heard Party days at MK are awesome. The trade off is the sun and no fireworks.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

We normally go LDW but this year went the weekend before...it was a marked difference in crowd size. Definitely more crowded than we were used to, and the heat was brutal as always, but we spent most of our time at Epcot and the waits for food booths were some of the lowest we've ever experienced. We had a great trip...but definitely sticking to Labor Day Weekend in the future

Also, I have congestion and it's moved into my chest but thankfully not covid. Just a nasty cold...probably from my toddler putting his grubby hands all over everything and then sticking them in my mouth against my will I miss the days of 6ft of separation and constant hand sanitizing.

 

[jenjersnap]

I am the only person I have seen with a mask on since I got here yesterday. No joke.

That is a little surprising to me. I have flown quite a bit this summer and mask usage seemed to be on an upswing. Have a great trip!