Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[tnolan]

Thanks for the info about QS. I was referencing the bottle refill stations that were around the parks in December, like this one.
View attachment 515685

I used one in Cosmic Ray's, and there was one at the bus station restrooms in HS.

 

[mirandag819]

I checked times all day for MK and I did not see anything close to long waits “ALL” day

I checked all day today and while they weren’t long by normal summer standards with fast pass available, they were significantly longer than they have been on any prior day since reopening. Without fast pass I would absolutely consider them long waits.

 

[soniam]

We just left MK and waits were 45-60 for many rides until about 5:30 when they came down some. Whenever we got in a line we set a timer and the posted waits are accurate. On some rides the lines stretched out all the way to they very end of the distance markers. Hand sanitizer was out at a few stations. It is not shoulder to shoulder but definitely more crowded and many people in the lines get close to other groups. We waited about 20 minutes for Carousel of Progress and I can not remember ever waiting that long for it before. It was so hot and is no fun to wait in long lines out in the sun. We ended up doing Hall of Presidents, Barnstormer and Dumbo just because they were some of the only things without 25+ minute waits. I’m hoping the rest of the week gets better. I will say all the CMs we encountered were great. They really are the heart of the park.

They are barely filling the COP theater, so it takes longer. Also, it was having some issues last week, so that could be contributing. I have actually had to wait through 2 shows for COP during the week between xmas and new years. We got there right when one room loaded and didn't make the next room either. It gets pretty busy during Thanksgiving week too.

 

[armerida]

Heading down this Friday and currently have HS booked for Saturday. After seeing the wait times and apparent crowd levels yesterday, wondering if I should move it to Sunday, or if there hasn’t been much of a difference in crowds/waits between the 2 days?

I booked Epcot for Sunday bc in the past, Saturday’s have been busier with locals during festivals, but looks like that may not be a problem now...

 

[Dallasmomoftwo]

I agree with the poster that said it kind of felt like Disney just said to heck with it, let’s just roll with the crowd that shows up. I’m sure that is not the case, and I greatly appreciate all the time and effort the company and especially the CMs put into place trying to mitigate the risk for their guests. However, when it is this hot and you have as many people as were at MK yesterday, many of the safety procedures will go out the window. People were so hot they were taking their masks off at times and the lines were getting so long that the social distancing guidelines were not being followed by many guests because they are trying to inch up in the line and get to shade. Even though there are fewer people in the park, capacity is reduced on the attractions making for long waits. If you are used to normal crowded park days, you will probably be fine with this but for the people coming that are expecting a safe, socially distanced experience, you will not get that - at least at yesterday’s crowd levels. We are definitely making the best of it and will enjoy our trip because we are at Disney but it is just significantly different than some past reports of many things being walk ons, short waits for headliners, empty park photos, etc.

 

[DCLMP]

I was at Islands of Adventure yesterday. It was pretty packed. Luckily we had express passes. We’re heading to WDW tomorrow. Hoping for the best.

 

[crayon3448]

How was AK yesterday? We arrive next Friday and Saturday is our only AK day. Wondering if we should try to switch it to a weekday but that would require switching a few dining reservations and a minigolf reservation.

 

[Geomom]

How was AK yesterday? We arrive next Friday and Saturday is our only AK day. Wondering if we should try to switch it to a weekday but that would require switching a few dining reservations and a minigolf reservation.

We did AK yesterday 10-1, as we had a flight at 5:15. FOP was an actual 30 minutes during that time, Safari listed at 30 (and lines out into Africa), but was 15 minutes...they were filling every row on the jeeps (with the partitions). Kali was a walk-on at 10:15, but there was a cleaning cycle when we got off. We also saw the new bird show as we were walking past it 5 minutes before it started. It was busier than when we went on Wednesday--that day FOP was maybe a 5 minute wait and they were offering re-rides all day--after you left the building, there was a person directing you to a shortcut to cut out most of the queue. We didn't take them up on the offer, much to DD16s dismay...it's why we added an AK day yesterday, but no re-rides on a Saturday, but she did get on twice, once with each parent, and did the safari. DD20 has no desire to ride it and DD16 had no desire to ride Kali--so we split up, did safari together, and changed partners.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

I’m loving all these reviews!

But I have a trip planned Thursday, August 13-22. Staying at CBR. I had not planned on using any park days for the weekends because I just assumed they would be busier, but now I’m nervous about Monday through Friday! Maybe I can hope if the crowd increase IS due to the silver APs that they are coming in for the weekend and hopefully Monday through Friday won’t be nearly as crowded. I don’t know - not sure if now is a great time or not. It’s me and my DS 13 & DS 11. We all are used to the masks and know a lot will be closed, but we were tempted to go hearing about all the short lines.

 

[coolbrook]

I will say all the CMs we encountered were great. They really are the heart of the park.

I love this! I felt the same way.

 

[Kimpossible1]

I remember someone asking about pin boards, and at AK there is one now at Discovery Trading Company. It is outside the store as you turn right towards Dinoland

 

[Geomom]

I’m loving all these reviews!

But I have a trip planned Thursday, August 13-22. Staying at CBR. I had not planned on using any park days for the weekends because I just assumed they would be busier, but now I’m nervous about Monday through Friday! Maybe I can hope if the crowd increase IS due to the silver APs that they are coming in for the weekend and hopefully Monday through Friday won’t be nearly as crowded. I don’t know - not sure if now is a great time or not. It’s me and my DS 13 & DS 11. We all are used to the masks and know a lot will be closed, but we were tempted to go hearing about all the short lines.

Monday through Thursday is much lower than Friday to Sunday. We just got back from a 2 week trip, weekends are noticeably busier. But even on our 'busy' MK day on Friday, we did 11 rides/attractions from 11:30-6:30, with an hour plus break for 2pm lunch at skipper canteen.. Out longest waits were 30-40 minutes for Mine train (with a cleaning cycle), big thunder, and haunted mansion midday. Buzz was a walk-on, other rides 10-20 minutes during the day. Didn't attempt splash or space. Pirates had a long listed wait, so we skipped it and never got back over there...had already done it on previous days anyways. With most days having afternoon showers/storms, lots of people are doing outside rides before 3pm. The longest waits are when you hit a cleaning cycle, which happens every 2 hrs...not all the rides at once though...so you can be unlucky and hit cleaning cycles on multiple rides....or somehow miss them all, lol. Cleaning cycles take 5-20 minutes depending on the ride...shorter rides have shorter cycles...like mine train.

We had a great time, did lots of rides with lower than normal waits, enjoyed seeing the various cavalcades and pop up characters from a distance, and found it more relaxing than usual.

 

[Dallasmomoftwo]

We are at AK today and the crowd situation is much the same as we found at MK yesterday. Lots of people, walkways crowded and it is very hard to social distance. FOP is an 80 minute wait and Kali is 45. Everest says 35 but it is a complete bottleneck to get in the end of the line and the CM keeps moving the end of the line marker farther and farther back so that wait time is likely going to be more.

 

[WEDWDW]

We are at AK today and the crowd situation is much the same as we found at MK yesterday. Lots of people, walkways crowded and it is very hard to social distance. FOP is an 80 minute wait and Kali is 45. Everest says 35 but it is a complete bottleneck to get in the end of the line and the CM keeps moving the end of the line marker farther and farther back so that wait time is likely going to be more.

"very hard to social distance"

Sounding more and more like Disney started out with very good intentions to provide as safe of an environment as humanly possible,but as time passes,is gradually finding that harder and harder to accomplish.

I just think many,incluiding The Mouse,are showing signs of "virus fatigue" and are "letting their guard down" despite the best of intentions.

 

[weatherboy80]

I was also at MK yesterday (Sat 8/9) and showed up at about 3 until closing and will echo what others have said. This was by far the busiest I have seen the parks since they re-opened. Yes cast members are doing great especially in the heat and having to deal with the few folks that will not obey the rules. Did see lots of masks dipping below the nose again, but will say most folks did a good job especially for being 100 degrees with little cloud cover. What was worrisome to see was the crowds in Frontierland, mostly near Splash mountain in the afternoon and then worse on Main Street (also for loading for the ferry or monorails) at closing was nearly impossible to social distance. Not sure if Disney has officially "bumped" capacity but not sure I'll be trying to leave the park right around closing for a while either.

 

[CR88]

Just got back from a stay at the Polynesian. Originally we planned a staycation and to visit the surrounding area and see the rocket launch, but after seeing all of the vlogs and reviews about the short waits we added a day at Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom.

We are so glad we did, we did every ride our family likes, some multiple times. We could not ride ROTR, and that is after trying to book right at the times they were available, 10 am and 2 pm. Not sure how people were able to book faster, we did it the second it opened and the app said it was full. That was disappointing but numerous rides on Toy Story, TOT, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and Smuggler's run were enough to make for a happy family. Toy Story Mania was 5 min, RnR was 15, TOT was 15, and Smuggler's Run was 10. Magic Kingdom was even better, the longest wait was the Mine Ride. It listed 45 on the board but was 25 at most. Everything else was 5-10, Splash Mountain was the second highest at 15.

We did try to see more of the non-Disney area but noticed that the rest of Florida wasn't really too keen on the mask and social distancing policy. While we weren't too worried about the virus itself, my family is in health care and seem to think this is more political posturing with the coming election and fear of liability, there were a couple in our group that noticed and didn't feel comfortable off property. But, we did abide by all of the rules without issue. Disney felt MUCH safer than other parts of Florida though. The biggest bummers, at least from our travelers, was that many of our favorite dining stops were closed. (Woody's Lunch Box, Ample Hills Creamery, Port Orleans QS's, and O'hana to name a few.) Overall, we all enjoyed the trip for what it was. But, it was NOT near the level of what we usually experience. We all noticed the food options were not only limited but not at the level of what we normally get. Mickey Waffles, which are a family favorite were clearly prepared well in advance and thus not as fresh as usual, likely due to the limited staff. We also had to order everything with apps and could not get modifications as easily. Ex. we usually get a side of eggs when we order Tonga Toast, or skip the potatoes and biscuits and get double eggs on the bounty platter for family members that can't have that many carbs. Also, our nephew has Silliac's disease and can not have gluten. Normally getting a bunless burger was a piece of cake, not this time. He had to order and just pitch out the bun. Not that big if of a deal, but they were only with us for two days so he found other items that worked.

Disney Springs was PAAACKED!! Every time we went, especially the weekend. Later at night seemed better, which is when we went for dinners, but it was still packed. For anyone at high risk, or worried about COVID in general, I would probably avoid that area and the local outlet malls, they were packed as well. The Disney outlet stores were closed anyway, so not really worth the trek to us.

These are not complaints as much as they are observations and expected changes during COVID. We expected a Disney lite trip and that's what we got, it's all good, it was still Disney. Disney staff was awesome as usual and went above and beyond for the most part. They were overly friendly and joked many times with our family. They seemed glad to be back. For a first-timer, I would definitely skip and go when you can get the full experience. But, given that we normally go twice per year, it was nice just chilling by the pool, grabbing dinners and doing a couple of park days. We liked it. For frequent Disney travelers who are OK with the limitations and changes, they will enjoy being able to ride EVERYTHING in about 6-7 hours. According to some in our group, that alone was worth it.

 

[The Expert]

Heading down this Friday and currently have HS booked for Saturday. After seeing the wait times and apparent crowd levels yesterday, wondering if I should move it to Sunday, or if there hasn’t been much of a difference in crowds/waits between the 2 days?

I booked Epcot for Sunday bc in the past, Saturday’s have been busier with locals during festivals, but looks like that may not be a problem now...

It's been a few weeks since we were there, but our experience was that Saturday and Sunday are both pretty equally busy with locals. Unless you can move HS to a weekday, I'm not sure it'll matter much which you pick.

 

[Kimpossible1]

I thought AK was crowded yesterday, much more than MK last Sunday.

 

[720L]

At MK today, it's busy, not normal busy, but still busier than I expected OR than it should be. Disney is letting too many people in.

 

[Obliviate]

We are at AK today and the crowd situation is much the same as we found at MK yesterday. Lots of people, walkways crowded and it is very hard to social distance. FOP is an 80 minute wait and Kali is 45. Everest says 35 but it is a complete bottleneck to get in the end of the line and the CM keeps moving the end of the line marker farther and farther back so that wait time is likely going to be more.

Same experience. I arrived at AK at 11am and the lines were scary. The line for Everest went beyond the bridge, and I could not even find the end of the line for FOP. Understandably, Africa was empty though. The Safari was the only attraction with a very low wait throughout the day, I'm not sure why because I saw most of the animals. With no shows and Dinosaur down half of the day, there were only 5 rides to do in the whole park. I'm hoping things improve tomorrow!