I know everyone has their limits, but that photo doesn't make me even remotely uncomfortable. Plenty of space, likely just walking past people, everyone I can see has a mask on. Not really seeing an issue, but that's me.
Since the family in the foreground was comfortable enough to drop $20 on a balloon, can we infer they must be local?
 
For me the worry isn't crowded walkways. It's long lines with long wait times, limited food options with long waits and limited transportation with...long wait times.
We usually fastpass the rides we really want and if we come across anything with a short wait time we'll ride it.
We also watch all the shows.
Obviously the shows are off the table and we'll be fine with whatever food we get but I'd like to feel like I semi got my money's worth for the trip overall.
I love Disney World and we have a trip booked for early November that I'm very excited about.
But we spent 4k for this trip and I don't want to feel like it wasn't worth it.

If Disney doesn't improve transportation and increase ride capacity we are going to cancel.

We live in Vegas so it's not like we can go often. I think locals/AP's might have a different perspective. This is just my opinion based on my family and I don't mean to belittle anyone else's feelings or opinions.
I booked the trip with open eyes and I'm fully aware that it won't be like our other trips.
I know one person's perspective of crowds might not match another's.
I'm just going to wait and see what happens in the next few weeks and decide then.
I definitely think that opening the shows back up will make a huge difference, especially for ak and mk
 
I had intended to do a "just back" post when we returned from our Aug 10-15 trip, but work and back-to-school prep took over and I'm just now coming back to this board. I'm not going to post a bunch of details about our trip because after reading some of the recent posts here it's obvious that things have already changed quite a bit.

The bottom line is that I'm happy we did the trip. The low waits at most attractions and the lack of having to obsess about fast passes outweighed the closed shops and restaurants (we're not parade, fireworks or meet and greet people so none of that was missed). A huge bonus was that since we weren't rushing to make fast passes, we were all able to savor a slower pace and take in all the great details in the parks (several of which we'd never noticed before). We even got to experience that modified F&W festival which normally doesn't happen because we always go in late August. Love, love, loved it! I detest crowds so festivals are normally not my thing, but with a deliciously empty EPCOT on the day we went most of the food booths were walk up and there was always an empty table nearby.

Mask & distancing compliance was very good (a big concern for me) and the non-compliant people were easy to avoid for the most part. The one bizarre thing that we witnessed happened right at the end of our last park day which was at MK. So we're about to enter the confectionary when we saw this really loud woman emerging from the exiting crowd. She was yelling obscenities at the CM who was clearly "tailing" her because she wasn't wearing a mask. At one point the woman even turned around and coughed on the CM! She then turned on her heel and walked toward the exit defiantly twirling her mask in the air and continuing the verbal assault. I swear, it was like watching a viral video on YouTube. I couldn't believe that there wasn't security personnel called in to back up the CM, but maybe she felt it was better to just let her go since she was on her way out anyway. Regardless, it was surreal.

Big thanks to the mods and everyone who helped me with all the great advice. Much appreciated!
 


So are people wearing costumes to MK? The first day of Halloween I saw lots of costumes on Instagram and picture. I put together a whole outfit and now I’m worried I’ll stand out like a goof ball.
 
So are people wearing costumes to MK? The first day of Halloween I saw lots of costumes on Instagram and picture. I put together a whole outfit and now I’m worried I’ll stand out like a goof ball.

Go for it! Some travelers won't be able to bring a costume due to luggage restrictions. I bet people will be jealous. I am always jealous of people at the parties in their nice outfits, since I travel via plane.
 


Just returned fron an 8 day trip. After scanning the last few pages, I feel like this needsto be said. No, shouted. Weekends aside, THE PARKS ARE NOT CROWDED. Look, you have to adapt. Just like when they opened muliple parks, every time there's a new attraction, started the original FP, then FP+ etc.

Strategy now is to use weekend for resort day, DS, or really AK would probably be fine. Then on weekdays, get inside parks 30-45 minutes before official opening. You will get on 2-3 of the biggest attractions, and have the rest of the day to mix in the rest. We did everything we wanted, some more than once.

More restaurants at the parks and resorts would be great, but we went to DS most evenings where there's a ton of choices.

Finally, a word about masks and distancing. Reading the forums beforehand, we expected very high compliance. What we experienced exceeded that. Only one family we noticed playing cat and mouse with the cms. ONE family the entire trip. Everyone used the dustance markers properly. Just in general, you can see Disney is taking any and all precautions they can.

That said, even with low crowds there are pinch points in all the parks, and stores are tough to distance ALL the time. None of that bothered us at all, but for anyone planning on going expecting to be distanced 100% of the time....not gonna happen.
 
We were at Epcot on Saturday and while it was definitely more crowded than what past reports have sounded like, we never once felt unsafe while there. We did have to get close to others at times, but with the breeze and relatively good mask compliance, one would have to be mask-less and coughing in your face to feel unsafe (no one did this).

We arrived prior to park opening, but not in the first wave. We went directly to the Land Pavilion and it was a walk-on for Living with the Land (posted 5 minutes). We went to Soaring next, posted 25 minutes actual about 15 minutes. The situation changed after we finished as the line to get into the Land Pavilion stretched well past the ramp. We then watched the Pixar/Disney shorts and had lunch at Katsura Grill. Probably the only place we felt slightly unsafe because there wasn’t anyone cleaning the outdoor tables. We then explored World Showcase clockwise, ending in Italy for our dinner reservation.

Mask compliance was good, but there was a lot of eating/drinking while moving going on. There was enough space to avoid anyone doing this.
 
So are people wearing costumes to MK? The first day of Halloween I saw lots of costumes on Instagram and picture. I put together a whole outfit and now I’m worried I’ll stand out like a goof ball.
We will be - we're flying Southwest so we can bring an extra bag, and we're both guys so we don't have much to bring besides clothes and our remote work stuff. I was worried because in the couple pictures I saw from the 15th, I didn't see anyone but kids dressed up and was worried we'd look ridiculous or that I had misunderstood/misread the rules!
(My partner is going as a Jedi (sans robe of course), and I'm turning my wheelchair + myself into R2D2. The only bummer is that we can only do it in MK, not DHS which would be more fun!)
 
We Uber’d from Pop to Boardwalk this morning. We were there at 8:15 and walked from Boardwalk to HS. Nice trail. We got to where they held us up around 8:30. There were maybe 20 people before us (though not explicit line). At 9 they walked us to the temperature stations and we waited there until 9:15, when they let us in.
I thought they only let Ubers in if you have a dining reservation ?
 
Just arrived at the Vistana after Wed-Saturday at Universal. Will post more in appropriate forums, but DS was crazy crowded at 7 last night. We had reservations at Jaleo, and could not get near. Surface parking and the orange garage were full. I assume lime was, but we could not even try to turn in coming from the direction of orange. A big sign said DS was at capacity. We sadly cancelled Jaleo. There were no reservations on Disney property. We had A happy anyway dinner at a dispirited Macaroni grill on Irlo Bronson, chosen solely because it was next door to the Krispy Kremes. Off to Epcot today. Looks stormy.
 
This is similar to my feelings right now. Except crowded walkways wont be cool for us either...

For me the worry isn't crowded walkways. It's long lines with long wait times, limited food options with long waits and limited transportation with...long wait times.
We usually fastpass the rides we really want and if we come across anything with a short wait time we'll ride it.
We also watch all the shows.
Obviously the shows are off the table and we'll be fine with whatever food we get but I'd like to feel like I semi got my money's worth for the trip overall.
I love Disney World and we have a trip booked for early November that I'm very excited about.
But we spent 4k for this trip and I don't want to feel like it wasn't worth it.

If Disney doesn't improve transportation and increase ride capacity we are going to cancel.

We live in Vegas so it's not like we can go often. I think locals/AP's might have a different perspective. This is just my opinion based on my family and I don't mean to belittle anyone else's feelings or opinions.
I booked the trip with open eyes and I'm fully aware that it won't be like our other trips.
I know one person's perspective of crowds might not match another's.
I'm just going to wait and see what happens in the next few weeks and decide then.

I agree with this approach and have the same feelings of reduced cost/benefit it sounds like you are feeling. Our trip was rescheduled from March when we had our vacation cancelled a week beforehand. At the time we didn’t know our federal government response would put us in such a terrible position compared to the rest of the world still in November. So we rebooked at the time, hoping things would be closer to “normal“ by Thanksgiving.

We were still feeling ok with going a month ago due to the “Disney bubble“ and the lower capacity/crowds - despite Floridas numbers. Disney was doing everything right and we could manage with much more lightly attended parks. But reading about the increased capacity, long waits and even the transportation issues that are present now does not make it worth the money nor worth the risk for my family to visit. This trip - before the cost of dining and activities - is $6500 for us and we fly from Minneapolis. So not at all like a local experience where there is less travel and you could just come another time.

Based on our Disney park practices of early rope dropping, maximizing fastpass and never waiting more than 20 minutes for standby, we would be fairly unhappy standing in a two hour FOP line, even a one hour line, not to mention super stressed out by the potential for COVID 19 exposure standing indoors in those small corridors for that long. Even with Physical distancing - thats a long time to be indoors with a decent amount of others in small spaces. Not something we are comfortable doing.

We too will wait and see how reports come back through October and early November but without shorter wait times or fastpass and more timely/better transportation the trip will be cancelled. As sad as that makes me to write. Hard to justify spending that much to be waiting in long lines, stressed out and risking safety. Cruising through lines with little waits, minimal crowding or ability to avoid it, and just fewer people in general plus the chance to “stop and smell the roses” more with different experiences at the resort or other resorts or on property due to limited park hours/events made the trade offs worth it, even with many holiday things cancelled and reduced hours, restaurant options etc. It is not sounding that way now. The possibility of Increased capacity combined with Thanksgiving week and no FP, limited bus service has the makings of a nightmare trip for us.

Disney seems to be in this middle ground now of getting busier, which is good for Disney and a positive sign for sure, but not busy enough for them to go to the expense of better transportation measures or even the ability to better manage crowds through fastpass due to the physical space needed for safety protocols for COVID 19. The opposite of the “sweet spot” and more like the “awkward middle” sadly.
 
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For AK, DHS and EPCOT is it safe to say that the you can get in the parking lot line about an hour before the posted opening of each park? And they open the lots around 45 minutes prior to opening? And some rides may be running? tia
 
I posted on the Community board, but no replies so I thought maybe someone "There now or Just Back" might be able to report about the Splash Mountain gift shop. Any recent reports of whether it's open and if they have Splash merchandise available? And if they are restocking, is this still happening first thing in the morning?

527118

ETA: Are the Lion King Drum popcorn buckets still available at Animal Kingdom?

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I keep reading on various groups about how terrible the parks are right now on weekends or especially Saturdays. So I'm having difficulty choosing a park for Saturday during our trip (we are going Wednesday through Wednesday). Does anyone have a suggestion on the best park for Saturdays? Is it bad enough that we should just make it a rest day (we usually don't need/do rest days)? Are Sundays bad as well?
 
I posted on the Community board, but no replies so I thought maybe someone "There now or Just Back" might be able to report about the Splash Mountain gift shop. Any recent reports of whether it's open and if they have Splash merchandise available? And if they are restocking, is this still happening first thing in the morning?

View attachment 527118

ETA: Are the Lion King Drum popcorn buckets still available at Animal Kingdom?

View attachment 527123

Not sure about the popcorn drums, but the Splash Mtn gift shop is basically empty. Some generic candy and a place to buy photos. We were really disappointed as we were hoping to buy DS something as it’s his favorite ride. thankfully, we bought Brer Fox on a trip last year but I would have loved to get him a shirt, ornament, anything. So frustrating that Disney did not do something to stop the hoarding when they opened if they weren’t going to restock! We couldn’t find Splash merchandise anywhere else, including the Christmas store.
 

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