New Jersey DVC Members Group

[mrsap]

OK, my take on visiting WDW in these strange times...

Airline travel seems to be hit or miss, I felt pretty safe traveling down but the return trip felt completely different with more people seeming to be comfortable not wearing a mask in proximity to other folks both in the airport and on the plane. The plane down the middle seats were left open, the plane home appeared to be mostly sold out with no empty middle seat. That was my flight experience on Spirit out of ACY, your mileage may vary.

WDW itself has done a terrific job of handling the social distancing, cleanliness side of things. Masks weren’t as bad as I thought they would be, not comfortable but not the deal breaker I was anticipating. I felt almost completely safe for most of the trip, with crowd levels being low enough that you can social distance for the most part yourself from those not concerned about such things. I said most of the trip because Saturday in Epcot was a completely different story I suspect because of it being the weekend. Crowds were much larger and there was an abundance of morons not following the guidelines. I surprisingly kept “Little Jersey” at bay all week, until Saturday. On Saturday, I became my mother, and if it crossed my mind, it came out of my mouth.
I actually said to my wife, I don’t want to be here and we left. Full disclosure I have underlying medical conditions where I probably wouldn’t survive the Rona so I may be over sensitive to these things. Enough of the doom and gloom.

All in all we had a great trip, crowd levels were mostly non-existent, the longest wait time for any ride was 40 minutes but most of the wait times are overestimated by half. If you’re comfortable going down I would highly recommend it. A lot of the “Magic” isn’t there right now (parades, fireworks, ect) and a lot of places aren’t opened yet but it isn’t a bad trip, it’s just different. If I knew last week, what I know now, I would still choose to go.

I didn’t get to as many F&W booths as I would have like due to weather and crowds on Saturday but my review:

Gourmet Mac & Cheese was delicious will definitely get it again.
Lobster Mac & Cheese was delicious will definitely get it again.
Seafood Fisherman’s Pie My wife loved it would definitely get it again.
Kielbasa and Potato Pierogi was delicious will definitely get it again.
Nitro cake pops were OK, probably one and done
Onion Goat Cheese tart in France was delicious will definitely get it again.
Piri Piri Skewered Shrimp with Citrus-scented Couscous was delicious will definitely get it again.
Southern Seafood Boil My wife loved it would definitely get it again. Learn to eat a crawfish first, Yankees.
Beef Kefta Pocket with Caramelized Onions was delicious will definitely get it again.
Pão de Queijo: Brazilian Cheese Bread were horrible, it was a texture thing, I named them booger biscuits, nuff said
So much more I wanted to try, there’s always October

WDW firsts
First time staying at BWV, loved it even at its limited current offerings. I could live on Pizza Window pizza. LOL
1st time on Flight of Passage, and 2nd and 3rd. LOL
1st time I didn’t want to ride Expedition Everest a 2nd time
1st time at Flame Tree Barbeque, Delicious
1st time on Alien Swirling Saucers
1st time on Smugglers Run
1st time on Minnie and Mickey’s runaway railway
1st time at Hollywood Brown Derby, delicious
1st time on Frozen
1st time on Finding Nemo
1st time watching Amazing Planet
1st time watching American Adventures
1st time at Coral Reef Restaurant, delicious and beautiful views

I think this is the longest post I’ve ever put on the Internet.

Happy you had fun, for the most part!!! It’s a good thing you didn’t go full Soprano’s on anyone!! That’s great you got to try so many firsts! ...might as well take advantage while the crowds are still low! Happy you had a safe trip!

 

[LoveMugsNPins]

OK, my take on visiting WDW in these strange times...

Your first long internet post may be THE very first long internet post that is not negative! haha

Thanks for the update! We are currently booked for Jersey week at the beginning of Nov. I really really want to go. Lets hope all these KNUCKLEHEADS can keep our numbers down!!

I am tempted to drive. Then I can send the hubby to the FL west coast fishing with his bud that lives down there.

 

[bobbiwoz]

OK, my take on visiting WDW in these strange times...

Airline travel seems to be hit or miss, I felt pretty safe traveling down but the return trip felt completely different with more people seeming to be comfortable not wearing a mask in proximity to other folks both in the airport and on the plane. The plane down the middle seats were left open, the plane home appeared to be mostly sold out with no empty middle seat. That was my flight experience on Spirit out of ACY, your mileage may vary.

WDW itself has done a terrific job of handling the social distancing, cleanliness side of things. Masks weren’t as bad as I thought they would be, not comfortable but not the deal breaker I was anticipating. I felt almost completely safe for most of the trip, with crowd levels being low enough that you can social distance for the most part yourself from those not concerned about such things. I said most of the trip because Saturday in Epcot was a completely different story I suspect because of it being the weekend. Crowds were much larger and there was an abundance of morons not following the guidelines. I surprisingly kept “Little Jersey” at bay all week, until Saturday. On Saturday, I became my mother, and if it crossed my mind, it came out of my mouth.
I actually said to my wife, I don’t want to be here and we left. Full disclosure I have underlying medical conditions where I probably wouldn’t survive the Rona so I may be over sensitive to these things. Enough of the doom and gloom.

All in all we had a great trip, crowd levels were mostly non-existent, the longest wait time for any ride was 40 minutes but most of the wait times are overestimated by half. If you’re comfortable going down I would highly recommend it. A lot of the “Magic” isn’t there right now (parades, fireworks, ect) and a lot of places aren’t opened yet but it isn’t a bad trip, it’s just different. If I knew last week, what I know now, I would still choose to go.

I didn’t get to as many F&W booths as I would have like due to weather and crowds on Saturday but my review:

Gourmet Mac & Cheese was delicious will definitely get it again.
Lobster Mac & Cheese was delicious will definitely get it again.
Seafood Fisherman’s Pie My wife loved it would definitely get it again.
Kielbasa and Potato Pierogi was delicious will definitely get it again.
Nitro cake pops were OK, probably one and done
Onion Goat Cheese tart in France was delicious will definitely get it again.
Piri Piri Skewered Shrimp with Citrus-scented Couscous was delicious will definitely get it again.
Southern Seafood Boil My wife loved it would definitely get it again. Learn to eat a crawfish first, Yankees.
Beef Kefta Pocket with Caramelized Onions was delicious will definitely get it again.
Pão de Queijo: Brazilian Cheese Bread were horrible, it was a texture thing, I named them booger biscuits, nuff said
So much more I wanted to try, there’s always October

WDW firsts
First time staying at BWV, loved it even at its limited current offerings. I could live on Pizza Window pizza. LOL
1st time on Flight of Passage, and 2nd and 3rd. LOL
1st time I didn’t want to ride Expedition Everest a 2nd time
1st time at Flame Tree Barbeque, Delicious
1st time on Alien Swirling Saucers
1st time on Smugglers Run
1st time on Minnie and Mickey’s runaway railway
1st time at Hollywood Brown Derby, delicious
1st time on Frozen
1st time on Finding Nemo
1st time watching Amazing Planet
1st time watching American Adventures
1st time at Coral Reef Restaurant, delicious and beautiful views

I think this is the longest post I’ve ever put on the Internet.

A long post, and a real good one! I loved reading about the foods you would have again!

Thanks for the report, I smiled a lot!

Bobbi

 

[Ms.Minnie]

Great review, thanks for posting it! Glad you didn't have to go totally Jersey. How did you like Minnie and Mickey’s runaway railway? Was it worth losing the Great Movie Ride for this new ride?

We now drive so the plane won't be an issue for us, thank goodness! I really don't like flying, I'm not afraid to fly I just find the whole experience stressful but for shorter trips it does make sense to fly.

 

[Undavolt]

OK, my take on visiting WDW in these strange times...

Airline travel seems to be hit or miss, I felt pretty safe traveling down but the return trip felt completely different with more people seeming to be comfortable not wearing a mask in proximity to other folks both in the airport and on the plane. The plane down the middle seats were left open, the plane home appeared to be mostly sold out with no empty middle seat. That was my flight experience on Spirit out of ACY, your mileage may vary.

WDW itself has done a terrific job of handling the social distancing, cleanliness side of things. Masks weren’t as bad as I thought they would be, not comfortable but not the deal breaker I was anticipating. I felt almost completely safe for most of the trip, with crowd levels being low enough that you can social distance for the most part yourself from those not concerned about such things. I said most of the trip because Saturday in Epcot was a completely different story I suspect because of it being the weekend. Crowds were much larger and there was an abundance of morons not following the guidelines. I surprisingly kept “Little Jersey” at bay all week, until Saturday. On Saturday, I became my mother, and if it crossed my mind, it came out of my mouth.
I actually said to my wife, I don’t want to be here and we left. Full disclosure I have underlying medical conditions where I probably wouldn’t survive the Rona so I may be over sensitive to these things. Enough of the doom and gloom.

All in all we had a great trip, crowd levels were mostly non-existent, the longest wait time for any ride was 40 minutes but most of the wait times are overestimated by half. If you’re comfortable going down I would highly recommend it. A lot of the “Magic” isn’t there right now (parades, fireworks, ect) and a lot of places aren’t opened yet but it isn’t a bad trip, it’s just different. If I knew last week, what I know now, I would still choose to go.

I didn’t get to as many F&W booths as I would have like due to weather and crowds on Saturday but my review:

Gourmet Mac & Cheese was delicious will definitely get it again.
Lobster Mac & Cheese was delicious will definitely get it again.
Seafood Fisherman’s Pie My wife loved it would definitely get it again.
Kielbasa and Potato Pierogi was delicious will definitely get it again.
Nitro cake pops were OK, probably one and done
Onion Goat Cheese tart in France was delicious will definitely get it again.
Piri Piri Skewered Shrimp with Citrus-scented Couscous was delicious will definitely get it again.
Southern Seafood Boil My wife loved it would definitely get it again. Learn to eat a crawfish first, Yankees.
Beef Kefta Pocket with Caramelized Onions was delicious will definitely get it again.
Pão de Queijo: Brazilian Cheese Bread were horrible, it was a texture thing, I named them booger biscuits, nuff said
So much more I wanted to try, there’s always October

WDW firsts
First time staying at BWV, loved it even at its limited current offerings. I could live on Pizza Window pizza. LOL
1st time on Flight of Passage, and 2nd and 3rd. LOL
1st time I didn’t want to ride Expedition Everest a 2nd time
1st time at Flame Tree Barbeque, Delicious
1st time on Alien Swirling Saucers
1st time on Smugglers Run
1st time on Minnie and Mickey’s runaway railway
1st time at Hollywood Brown Derby, delicious
1st time on Frozen
1st time on Finding Nemo
1st time watching Amazing Planet
1st time watching American Adventures
1st time at Coral Reef Restaurant, delicious and beautiful views

I think this is the longest post I’ve ever put on the Internet.

Good review, thanks. Feeling better about going at the end of the month. Mostly confirms what I have been reading especially about EPCOT. They say it is getting crazy on the weekends especially with the Annual Pass Park Pass availability opening up. We arrive on a Sunday but EPCOT was not in our plans til later in the week. For us crazies who go multiple times a year, it still sounds like a fun time. But for those doing a once in two or three years trip, I would definitely postpone and wait till more of the magic returns.

Did you get on Rise of the Resistance and what was it like picking up your bags and taking them to the DME?

 

[Pooh12863]

Great review, thanks for posting it! Glad you didn't have to go totally Jersey. How did you like Minnie and Mickey’s runaway railway? Was it worth losing the Great Movie Ride for this new ride?

We now drive so the plane won't be an issue for us, thank goodness! I really don't like flying, I'm not afraid to fly I just find the whole experience stressful but for shorter trips it does make sense to fly.

Minnie and Mickey’s runaway railway was pretty neat the first time, not a ride I feel I would need to ride every trip, same way I felt about the Great Movie Ride, but there are only maybe a dozen rides I feel I need to ride every trip.

This past year was the first I've flown in 38 years, I wasn't afraid of flying, I was afraid of crashing.
Short weekend trips to WDW changed that, I could fly or not go, easy decision. I may go back to driving on longer trips till this all blows over.

 

[Pooh12863]

Good review, thanks. Feeling better about going at the end of the month. Mostly confirms what I have been reading especially about EPCOT. They say it is getting crazy on the weekends especially with the Annual Pass Park Pass availability opening up. We arrive on a Sunday but EPCOT was not in our plans til later in the week. For us crazies who go multiple times a year, it still sounds like a fun time. But for those doing a once in two or three years trip, I would definitely postpone and wait till more of the magic returns.

Did you get on Rise of the Resistance and what was it like picking up your bags and taking them to the DME?

I agree If I was only going once or twice a year I would definitely postpone until WDW was back to more normal operations.

We did ride ROTR, Tuesday I got group 34 and we rode around 1pm, on Friday my wife got group 21 but the ride was down most of the day, by the time they called her to ride she was already back to the room to get ready for dinner, so missed riding it again. We did ride back in December when we were there for Christmas.

It's no problem picking up your bags, we flew Spirit and the budget airlines get to walk the furthest for bag claim and it wasn't really that far. The bus was actually waiting for us to show up at MCO, so if you get to the buses early you may have a bit of a wait for everyone to get there, but they're only putting about a dozen people or so on each bus. The return trip was equally vacant so Disney is doing a great job with DME IMO. There is no airline check-in at the resorts though so you're going to need to check your own bags at the airport on your return trip.

 

[Undavolt]

I agree If I was only going once or twice a year I would definitely postpone until WDW was back to more normal operations.

We did ride ROTR, Tuesday I got group 34 and we rode around 1pm, on Friday my wife got group 21 but the ride was down most of the day, by the time they called her to ride she was already back to the room to get ready for dinner, so missed riding it again. We did ride back in December when we were there for Christmas.

It's no problem picking up your bags, we flew Spirit and the budget airlines get to walk the furthest for bag claim and it wasn't really that far. The bus was actually waiting for us to show up at MCO, so if you get to the buses early you may have a bit of a wait for everyone to get there, but they're only putting about a dozen people or so on each bus. The return trip was equally vacant so Disney is doing a great job with DME IMO. There is no airline check-in at the resorts though so you're going to need to check your own bags at the airport on your return trip.

We plan on trying to ride ROTR this trip. When we went in February, we had no interest in getting up at the crack of dawn to get to the park and maybe get a boarding group. It’s a little different now so we will see!

As for the DME, I just hope they eventually go back to handling your bags from the airport to your resort and the airline check-out at the resort. That was a big part of making the DME magical.

 

[Harley-Mouse]

Welcome!
I went to HFA in Bayonne...graduated in 1964.

Has bin closed for a few years now. My grandmother lived right up the block from HFA

 

[bobbiwoz]

Has bin closed for a few years now. My grandmother lived right up the block from HFA

Yes, I’ve been back to see.
We lived on W 32nd. Now I live all the way south, Cape May.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Good morning! Nice weather here! I know some have been very happy about the indoor dining, we haven’t been yet. We will have a visit from our older son as he travels between his MA home and back to FL where he works. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen him, so Happy Day! ( He had his youngest daughter, 15, have recovered well from the virus!)

Are you enjoying something special to celebrate Labor Day?

 

[Ms.Minnie]

So far we haven't done indoor dining yet, DH isn't in a big hurry...Yesterday our DS invited us to his house for a visit and dinner, we had a very nice visit. We really enjoyed seeing his children, they are soooo cute! I know I'm biased... This morning we met our DD and family at a local dinner for breakfast, we sat outside it was such a beautiful morning. It was so nice to see all of them and again my other two grandchildren are soooo cute! Again I'm biased.

I would say we had a banner weekend.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Our outdoor celebration of my DSis birthday was just about perfect yesterday! DS is now continuing his trip back to FL for work.

 

[artesian]

So far we haven't done indoor dining yet, DH isn't in a big hurry...Yesterday our DS invited us to his house for a visit and dinner, we had a very nice visit. We really enjoyed seeing his children, they are soooo cute! I know I'm biased... This morning we met our DD and family at a local dinner for breakfast, we sat outside it was such a beautiful morning. It was so nice to see all of them and again my other two grandchildren are soooo cute! Again I'm biased.

I would say we had a banner weekend.

Funny you mention indoor dining. I dropped my DD at school last Tues and they had indoor dining in MA. Although they too aren't anywhere near capacity inside I still much prefer to be out. It's funny how when I was sitting there I will all too hyper aware of my surroundings and totally get why they said indoor eating cause a resurgence in some states. I'm not knocking it at all was a bit surreal for me I guess

 

[Undavolt]

Is anyone else having to deal with airlines making major changes to their flights?

 

[Lorrie7249]

i have not yet bought our tickets for flights on our December trip...i've been hoping to adjust our stay, but have been seeing other posts about flight changes. how often and how drastically are they changing? which airline? now i am a bit worried

 

[oufpat]

To those who have visited WDW in the past couple of weeks, what did you do about quarantine when you arrived back in Jersey? We are scheduled to go the first week in December with banked points that expire the end of January, not sure what to do!

 

[Lorrie7249]

haven't done this yet, but if the quarantine rule is still in effect in Dec when we plan to visit Disney next, my husband and i both are still working from home, so we will do that, and for our kids, the eldest will be on break from his college and the younger two are currently doing hybrid, so we will switch to full virtual. My only major concern at the moment is that we typically host for the holidays and our current schedule puts us past Christmas eve for the 2 weeks. Should have planned better when booking the rooms-- actively scouring the site to find availability earlier. Don't know if your situation allows for working from home, but would suggest asking employer if that is possibility. Beyond that, i don't know what else could be done

 

[Undavolt]

To those who have visited WDW in the past couple of weeks, what did you do about quarantine when you arrived back in Jersey? We are scheduled to go the first week in December with banked points that expire the end of January, not sure what to do!

Also have not gone yet but we are going in a couple of weeks. We are both retired so we have basically been quarantining this entire time except for essential trips to the grocery store and pharmacy. Will just continue this when we return. Also considering getting tested when we get back.

 

[Undavolt]

i have not yet bought our tickets for flights on our December trip...i've been hoping to adjust our stay, but have been seeing other posts about flight changes. how often and how drastically are they changing? which airline? now i am a bit worried

We fly United. We like to do a very early morning flight going and a very late evening flight coming back so we get the most out of the parks. For our next trip we leave Sept. 27. A couple of weeks ago they changed our 7:00am to 9:00am. We could live with this. This week they changed our 8:55pm to 3:35pm. Not happy about this. We did some research and it looks like JetBlue is doing a better job of social distancing, no middle seats being sold, and they have more flights. A little more expensive but we just booked a 7:35am going and 6:55pm coming back. Hopefully they do not start consolidating flights.