How is Disney Springs lately?

Yesterday (a Saturday 7/25) was super busy. We drove and tried parking in lime which was closed for some unknown reason which was causing major backups on the roads. It took about 35 minutes to finally park which to me is unacceptable. Once onsite there was a ton a people that seemed like any average day pre covid imo. There was some cast enforcing mask wearing but we saw plenty of people walking and eating/drinking with no mask. Dinner at terralina was good but we don’t plan on going back to Disney springs anytime soon with plenty of other easier places to eat at the resorts where parking is simple. The whole traffic flow there is a total mess

We had a res at Wine Bar George at 7 last night and had the same experience. Parking was a joke and crowds were pretty bad. No mask enforcement. We did get in the virtual queue for the Co Op and TrenD and were called in about 10 minutes. The restaurant was great, but not worth the hassle. Definitely take the bus if you go. I won't be returning anytime soon.
 
I visited DS this afternoon for the first time since they first opened and would say things were a bit of a mess. Crowds were terrible and pathways and stores were very crowded so we will be avoiding that area for a while. Quite a bit different than the parks for sure!
 
I was at DS Sunday afternoon, 7/26. I had no trouble parking in a garage at 11:30am. I was there until 3pm. Had lunch at Paddlefish and walked around Town Center and Marketplace. I didn’t go in any stores that had a line, except for The Art of Disney, which only had three people ahead of us. I shopped in several other stores, but only bought some things at Uniqlo. I saw zero mask non-compliance at DS. There were plenty of people, but it wasn’t crowded. People did occasionally get close, including in stores when you had to pass each other in aisles, but it was no worse and actually better than being at Kroger or Walmart since everyone in the DS stores were wearing masks. I hold my breath when people get close, at home and at DS. Overall, it was a good experience. I think for the first time I really started listening to the background music at DS and I was really getting into it.
 
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I went Saturday morning because I wanted to talk to guest service and the cast member told me that they stared to scale back the amount of people starting Friday due to crowds. As soon as the parking garage hit a certain level they stopped letting people park. He said they cut entry by about 1/2. I saw a cast members request a person pull up their mask even though they were sitting. I guess they were not ‘actively’ eating or drinking. Most everyone else was in compliance.
 
I went Saturday morning because I wanted to talk to guest service and the cast member told me that they stared to scale back the amount of people starting Friday due to crowds. As soon as the parking garage hit a certain level they stopped letting people park. He said they cut entry by about 1/2. I saw a cast members request a person pull up their mask even though they were sitting. I guess they were not ‘actively’ eating or drinking. Most everyone else was in compliance.
If Disney is going to do this then they are going to have to go to a reservation type system for parking. They can’t just not let people park without telling guests what their process or rules are. You can reserve parking spots already on different apps in major cities around the country so this wouldn’t be something new. They are understandably working out issues as they come up but just shutting stuff down while people are still flowing onto property who are not aware of this is a mistake.
 
Not sure how much of a difference it made, but this past weekend was Pokemon Go fest and and Disney Springs is known for being a hotspot for the game. I saw a YouTuber who stupidly encouraged people to do a meetup there and it looked really bad.
 


Anyone been there in the evening this week? We’re here at WDW now and told the fam we weren’t going due to the mask non-compliance reports recently. Curious if it has been any better in the evenings since the rules have been changing.
 
Anyone been there in the evening this week? We’re here at WDW now and told the fam we weren’t going due to the mask non-compliance reports recently. Curious if it has been any better in the evenings since the rules have been changing.

We avoided the weekend and went to DS on Tuesday afternoon. Parking was a breeze, no crowds, everyone we saw wore their mask and social distanced. No lines to access stores that we saw -- we walked into WOD, The Marketplace, the Art shops, etc.. Walked up to Morimoto's Street Food and were served immediately. We were also literally the only people in Amerette's Patisserie, aside from their employees, at noon-time. Attendence likely picks up more towards evening, even on week days, with parks closing earlier than normal atm... but afternoons are still a great time to visit DS.
 
We had a res at Wine Bar George at 7 last night and had the same experience. Parking was a joke and crowds were pretty bad. No mask enforcement. We did get in the virtual queue for the Co Op and TrenD and were called in about 10 minutes. The restaurant was great, but not worth the hassle. Definitely take the bus if you go. I won't be returning anytime soon.
We arrived Sat 7/25 around 6:30 for dinner at Paddlefish via Lyft and saw the horrendous traffic to get in. All we did was walk to and from the restaurant and while WAY more crowded than when we were there in June we felt mask compliance was really good. We returned Sunday night for WBG at 7:30, more crowded than I thought it would be but nothing like Saturday! Returned once more Tuesday around 6:30, shopped and went to Jocks and crowds were much lower. Definitely more people than the parks/resorts so more chance you’ll feel uncomfortable but weeknights appear better than weekends.
 
Well, curiosity got the better of me. We went to DS today around noon (Sunday). Kind of thought that the predicted rain and the mid day trip would be on our side. Parked in the Lime Garage and there was plenty of parking when we arrived. We took the escalator up to the second level and started walking to the temp check location when I heard a CM say, “Sir, do you have a mask?”. I turned around and sure enough there was a guy and gal walking behind us without a mask. He looked at the cast member and said “Yea, and you know they don’t do anything right?”. He did pull one out and put it on. Not a good start to the trip. I just can’t believe that people know the rules going onto private property and want to give the people just doing their job trying to enforce the rules a hard time.

We walked right into World of Disney to grab a specific item. No wait and everyone that I saw was wearing mask properly.

On to the Tea and Spice Exchange. On the way, quite a few people with masks pulled down eating and drinking while walking around. A couple with masks pulled down and several noses. The noses don’t bother me as much as others, but rules are rules. No wait to get in the store. Only a few other shoppers in there. One of the employees walked out of the back with her mask down and started talking to us. We kind of stepped back A little and she realized that she didn’t have her mask on and pulled it up. I truly think she just kind of forgot. It happes. My wife walked straight out of our room 3 times this week without one until we looked at her odd.

We ate at Wolfgang Puck Express. Had a really good meal and great service. Only thing I didn’t care for was the person asked if we would like cheese or pepper flakes with our pizza and she brought out a pepper shaker and a small ramekin of cheese. Never would have thought anything of it pre-Covid, but now I don’t want to use a shared item that I don’t know how or when it gets cleaned or sanitized. We just didn’t use them.

Checked out a couple other stores with no problems or waits.

Last store we went in was the LEGO store. We waited at the door for a couple minutes to get in. While waiting, one of the employees came out and asked the door greeter if a person that was inside with a neck gaiter had on another mask underneath it. He said he didn’t notice the gaiter and wasn’t sure. When we walked in, I noticed a gal handing him a mask to put on as he pulled off the gaiter. Props to the LEGO employee for enforcing the rules. The door person also told every party that went in to keep their masks over their nose and allow 6’ of distance between them and the next party. The LEGO store itself was very open and the amount of people they were allowing into the store was perfect. Plenty of room to walk around not be in anyone’s way.

The way back to the parking garage had more people walking around with masks pulled down. A little to overcrowded for my comfort level at this time. We all agreed if we don’t read about some turnaround in DS before our thanksgiving trip, we will only give it a try Monday morning if that week.
 
Went to Disney Springs yesterday (Wed, Aug 5) at opening. Actually parked at 9:45 am, but only after a detour since the Lime garage was apparently closed. There were no CMs directing parking, so there was no distancing for cars. We were able to get to World of Disney and walk in just a minute or two after 10am when it was very empty. We made the rounds of several shops in the Marketplace, and migrated to the Landing and Town Center before stopping for our lunch reservation at Terralina Italian. Restaurant still only had a few tables occupied by the time we left at 1pm, so no crowding concerns there.

The afternoon was noticeably more crowded, but not so much that it was difficult to keep a distance from others outside or inside the capacity-controlled shops. Even World of Disney at 2pm was not overly crowded. I never noticed anyone being lax on the mask rules - barely a nose in sight. And for the most part, everyone was cognizant of distancing both indoors and out. Though there was a time in DisneyStyle when a group of teens/early 20s came in and acted as if they were the only ones in the store (at least they did have masks worn properly). As a sign of how un-crowded it was, we were only held outside of one shop because of capacity, and we were let in within 2 minutes. We left at about 2:30 when the rain storm was about to hit. Of course, that caused a bottleneck of folks on escalators to get in to the parking garage.

So, I'm guessing weekday mornings and early afternoons are likely the least crowded times to visit. No surprise really.
 
#busy... for real it seemed like nobody cared about what was going on. Shoulder to shoulder at choke points, zero social, distancing in lines, people with mask under nose/chin.
 

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