Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[maryj11]

Wearing a mask made it difficult to smell things that weren't super strong. I could still smell the fall of Rome in SSE, I couldn't smell what ride buildings smelled like. Tower of Terror for example, the musty boiler room smell. Just little Disney smells I had no clue meant so much to me.

I love the smells too. I love the musty boiler room

 

[NashvilleMama]

Have the parks seen there post Labor day drop off in numbers? Seem like today is busy although it's a weekend, wondering if numbers will be going lower?

it feels pretty empty at DHS today, but the weather is hit or miss with storms coming through so assuming that’s a big factor for local crowds.

 

[Victoria3]

Have the parks seen there post Labor day drop off in numbers? Seem like today is busy although it's a weekend, wondering if numbers will be going lower?

The weekends have been steadily getting more crowded since the parks reopened. Week days are still pretty dead.

 

[disneyseniors]

the rules are easily modified to interpretation depending on your specific situation and your level of comfort
In lines there are moments when you might be stationary for more than a minute and distanced enough to take a sip of water, eating a full lunch in line is not part of this situation
Disney cannot have queue monitor CM scattered through out each queue at each attraction so again it's your level of comfort.
When coming Disney has told you through MDE, through the website and through email that you take an inherent risk of exposure to COVID
everyone coming should NOT expect an exposure free experience
It is up to you and you alone to know what is your level of comfort
You will see:
people walking without masks or wearing them improperly
people eating or drinking in queues
people taking off the mask to sneeze or cough
people taking off the mask to take a pic
people getting into your personal space
Disney and al the parks are doing their very best to provide as safe of an experience as possible but it goes both ways

I have told people to step back from me or to pull their masks up if they are next to me in a queue, but you might not be comfortable doing that
None of the theme parks are required visiting destinations so PLEASE think carefully before coming and have realistic expectations

With that lets please go back to the topic of the thread

Common sense, finally! Thanks Yulilin3

 

[disneyseniors]

Depends on time of day. At busy times you might have to wait a while, maybe 10 to 15 minutes
Remember if you're planning on eating at heavy times reserve your spot early so you don't have to wait for the next ordering time slot

Sorry if this has been asked before, but we don't have a smart phone! gasp! I know we are dinosaurs
So, with so much being set up for the 99.9% who do have them, is it ok to order inside? Or what do we do (besides buy a smart phone, LOL)

 

[yulilin3]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but we don't have a smart phone! gasp! I know we are dinosaurs
So, with so much being set up for the 99.9% who do have them, is it ok to order inside? Or what do we do (besides buy a smart phone, LOL)

yes you can still order inside, just explain to the CM at the door you don't have a smart phone

 

[NoraRose]

it feels pretty empty at DHS today, but the weather is hit or miss with storms coming through so assuming that’s a big factor for local crowds.

We go next Friday and hoping it’s the same then! I’m looking at the app wait times and they seem high. Is that not the case in-person?

 

[emmabelle]

We went over to Epcot at noon and it was really crowded in the countries to me. We went to eat at Via Napoli which was good. We left after going to Mousegears. Just way too crowded. It seemed like a regular F&W weekend last fall.

 

[Jonathan Friedman]

Animal Kingdom was a madhouse today - left after a couple hours. Ridiculous.

 

[brockash]

Have the parks seen there post Labor day drop off in numbers? Seem like today is busy although it's a weekend, wondering if numbers will be going lower?

I felt like there was a pretty big drop after LD, but I still think the weekends are busy.

 

[robinstrip]

We rode the skyliner twice on our trip and found it was very quick and efficient. No trouble getting in the park well in advance of 10am both times

Thanks!!

 

[NashvilleMama]

I can’t remember and we go tomorrow, could someone remind me if AK rides open early (like DHS) or is showing up right before park open ok? Thx!!

 

[FFMickey]

Here at DHS now and the crowds are definitely higher. We managed to get on MMRR at 9:45 and was off before 10. We got boarding group 20, but the ride was down for a couple of hours earlier. They are only on group 16 right now. The queues are moving along nicely, but the wait times are close to accurate.

Update: Group 20 just got called at 3:53 PM.

 

[Jonathan Friedman]

Are Saturday crowds typically higher or lower than Sunday?

 

[WB1971]

it feels pretty empty at DHS today, but the weather is hit or miss with storms coming through so assuming that’s a big factor for local crowds.

And even so, 60+ minute waits on the popular rides, and impossible to get ROTR boarding group. Really bad show Disney.

 

[brockash]

I can’t remember and we go tomorrow, could someone remind me if AK rides open early (like DHS) or is showing up right before park open ok? Thx!!

When we went Thursday...FoP started a few mins before 9 opening...they let you in the line whenever you get there but didn't start boarding until closer to 9am which was different than the other parks for us.

 

[wilkydelts]

And even so, 60+ minute waits on the popular rides, and impossible to get ROTR boarding group. Really bad show Disney.

According to MDE only two rides at HS are 40 or more minutes (only one is 60 minutes) at 5:20pm about 40 minutes after you posted. Not sure why Disney is having a “bad showing”

 

[Naomeri]

According to MDE only two rides at HS are 40 or more minutes (only one is 60 minutes) at 5:20pm about 40 minutes after you posted. Not sure why Disney is having a “bad showing”

And a lot of the reports from people on this board have said that many wait times are actually shorter than posted

 

[NashvilleMama]

And a lot of the reports from people on this board have said that many wait times are actually shorter than posted

Yep. Our experience today was 50-75% of the posted wait times. We never waited more than 30 mins for anything today (other than the Rise issues but we eventually got on).

 

[Jimmiemac02]

Monday 9/7 - EPCOT

Came straight from the airport to the park, arrived at 12:30. Did everything except for Mission Space. TT was a 20 minute wait each time we rode (twice). Waited until the end of the night to get in line for Frozen, still waited 30 minutes. Hawaiian Pork Sliders are worth the hype.

Side note: this trip was to take my wife to Disney as a first timer. As a first timer, she thought all of the attractions at EPCOT were “very odd” which I kind of get. As a veteran you kind of know what you’re getting into with EPCOT attractions, but if you’re a first timer going from flying over the world, to a greenhouse, to a purple dragon ride, to an animatronic American show could be very weird. Also, SSE was her most disappointing attraction. She was expecting something super exciting to be inside the park landmark.

Tuesday 9/8 - Animal Kingdom

Rode Safaris first with some active animals then on to Pandora and the rest of the park. Rode FOP twice with a 20 minute wait each time. This was the first time I rode it (having not been to the park since 2015) and I didn’t think it quite measured up to the hype and super high wait times. We both really enjoyed the night blossom drink from Pongu Pongu and overall had a good day at the park.

Wednesday 9/9 - Volcano Bay

Really nice park. Could walk on everything except for the aquacoaster which we rode 4 times. Really great theming and I thought social distancing went well throughout the day with the exception of the entrance procedures.

Thursday 9/10 - Magic Kingdom

We did everything except for the Hall of Presidents, riverboat, and Tom Sawyer Island. Everything was a walk on or a 10 minute wait that we rode. We literally walked on Space Mountain at one point and was the highlight of my trip. My wife’s favorite ride at the park ended up being Peter Pan's Flight.

Friday 9/11 - Hollywood Studios

We were the first people in the park and on MMRR (which ended up being my wife’s favorite ride of the trip). We got boarding group 6 and went to ride slinky (30 minute wait). We exited the park midday and rode the skyliner. Came back and did the rest of the attractions. We rode midway mania 3 times! At one point we were dumped from the Falcon queue due to a fire alarm but we went back, waited through a cleaning cycle and finally got a ride (about an hour all said and done).

Transportation:
We used Uber/Lyft the entire time and it worked out really well. Here are some tips to be the first people in the parks:

To get to MK we took an Uber to get here at 7:45 am and walked using the path from the contemporary (we were the first people in the park):
Coordinates: 28.416950, -81.576744 (the website won't let me post pictures)

To get to HS we took an Uber to get here here at 8:30 am and walked to the entrance using the path from the boardwalk area (we were the first people in the park):
Coordinates: 28.363216, -81.553243 (the website won't let me post pictures)

Other notes:

-It was pleasantly crowded, everything wasn’t a walk on, but waits were acceptable.

-We never had trouble finding free cups of water, we had to wait a few minutes a couple times, but it was not nearly as bad as some people make it out to be.

-It was hot

-Social distancing was about 90% ok. I had to ask a few people to give us our space a couple times. Other times a nasty stare would do the trick and they would pay more attention to the markings.

-Shorter hours do make a difference, I missed seeing Main Street lit up.

-You’re mileage may vary, but the only attractions/things I really missed were: the Peoplemover, Finding Nemo the Musical, Festival of the Lion King, the cultural representatives in EPCOT, and the Laugh Floor. Even with these things missing, I was more than satisfied with my visit (I visit every 5 years or so)!

-I really enjoyed the spontaneous nature of this trip and not planning 6+ months in advance!

-I also really enjoyed no FastPass. The combination of social distancing and no FastPass made the lines move way faster.

-We stayed at Homewood Suites Lake Buena Vista. It was very nice and had a full size fridge and stove. I would recommend it.