Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[yulilin3]

Another vote for disposable, been wearing them through the entire summer season in the parks

 

[momimouse27]

Here's a question...wearing the masks, did anyone get an awful "mask tan"?? I plan to wear my facial sunscreen, but I have this picture in my mind of me with this horrible white spot around my face once I get home!

 

[Chris Ehlers]

Another vote for disposable, been wearing them through the entire summer season in the parks

only problem with disposable ones is that they are becoming like Dental Flossers, they don't break down in the environment and people just throw them were ever they please. every time we left a park that we drove to i would see them blowing in the wind in the parking lots. sorry @yulilin3 for the "M" word post

 

[pepperandchips]

Coming down this weekend. Are disposable masks more comfortable in the heat? We have plenty of cloth masks but the disposable masks seem like they would be more comfortable in the Florida heat..

Anyone have thoughts on this?

We did a combination of both and always carried options. The cloth ones stayed "fresher" for me after hours of use but the disposable type may have felt a touch cooler, it's hard to say. This is probably TMI but the disposable ones got funky smelling after we sweated in them for a couple of hours. I don't know if it was me or the mask - we bought the box of 50 from Office Depot that has been popular on the boards. I never noticed mask breath that people warned about so I feel like it wasn't my hygiene

Here's a question...wearing the masks, did anyone get an awful "mask tan"?? I plan to wear my facial sunscreen, but I have this picture in my mind of me with this horrible white spot around my face once I get home!

No, but I did wear a sunhat a couple days out of fear of this!

 

[yulilin3]

Here's a question...wearing the masks, did anyone get an awful "mask tan"?? I plan to wear my facial sunscreen, but I have this picture in my mind of me with this horrible white spot around my face once I get home!

I wear sunscreen and my liquid foundation also has spf, don't have any tans, that it's a horrifying thought

 

[pepperandchips]

only problem with disposable ones is that they are becoming like Dental Flossers, they don't break down in the environment and people just throw them were ever they please. every time we left a park that we drove to i would see them blowing in the wind in the parking lots. sorry @yulilin3 for the "M" word post

Agreed - we saw discarded or lost disposable masks in weird places too, like in a hotel elevator hanging on a handrail (not a Disney hotel, thank goodness).

 

[koquinn]

Here's a question...wearing the masks, did anyone get an awful "mask tan"?? I plan to wear my facial sunscreen, but I have this picture in my mind of me with this horrible white spot around my face once I get home!

I'm terrible about sunscreen. I had my Figment hat on with the mask & didn't get any funky tan lines. I'd probably do sunscreen or a hat to make sure though!

 

[BebopBaloo]

Here's a question...wearing the masks, did anyone get an awful "mask tan"?? I plan to wear my facial sunscreen, but I have this picture in my mind of me with this horrible white spot around my face once I get home!

Had not even thought about that....oh dear

 

[PrincessV]

A note about disposable vs. cloth: test whatever you're considering at home first! I live in FL and agree that the disposable ones seemed like the best option when temps and humid started rising with summer... but something about them wreaks havoc with my skin. I only need to wear a mask for 30ish minutes while grocery shopping, but that's enough for my skin to blister and peel from the 3 different brands of disposable masks I've tried. I have no such issues with cotton cloth masks. The Hanes 3-ply wicking cotton masks that were recommended to me by workers in a local medical center are fantastic! Soft, light, comfortable, and no skin damage. I'm glad to know this before trying to wear a mask all day at WDW!

 

[Zookoo10]

Here's a question...wearing the masks, did anyone get an awful "mask tan"?? I plan to wear my facial sunscreen, but I have this picture in my mind of me with this horrible white spot around my face once I get home!

So slightly off topic sorry but I work at Starbucks that has a drive thru and because of the frequency we are all in the sun in the window we all have terrible mask tans! So be very careful and lather with that sunblock!

 

[mrd7896]

A note about disposable vs. cloth: test whatever you're considering at home first! I live in FL and agree that the disposable ones seemed like the best option when temps and humid started rising with summer... but something about them wreaks havoc with my skin. I only need to wear a mask for 30ish minutes while grocery shopping, but that's enough for my skin to blister and peel from the 3 different brands of disposable masks I've tried. I have no such issues with cotton cloth masks.

sorry to keep on the mask topic since there are hundreds of threads with mask questions and this is a 'just back' thread, but i work at a restaurant and run around like a mad person, sweating, going outside for tables, in the kitchen and i wear disposable but also bought cloth masks from Januu. They are SO comfortable! you don't even feel the straps behind your ears. the company primarily makes scrubs so i think they are really great with producing something that is comfortable to wear for hours!

PA heat is pretty brutal too so i think it is pretty comparable to what i will experience in disney. will be bringing my 10 cloth masks and a BUNCH of disposable just to have options when i get there in two weeks.

 

[coolbrook]

as others have posted foldable chairs are not allowed but the cane with the little seat is. How about renting a wheelchair or ECV?

I highly recommend a rollator. I rented a Vive rollator last year from Gold Mobility and ended up liking it so much I bought my own. I only use it for long outings like Disney parks, the zoo and airports. At home I usually walk with no assistance except for a cane for uneven sidewalks sometimes. At Disney the rollator is very handy for sitting on in lines and while waiting for shows and quick service food and balance on uneven pavement, also for holding things like a stroller used to be when I had little kids. I am only 57, but I have one bad ankle from a previous break and a weak knee. The Vive also folds differently than others rollators, so it can stand stably while folded and looks more sporty like a bike.

 

[coolbrook]

I am following this thread pretty closely (planning my first ever trip in November) but please forgive my confusion.

I'm seeing several mentions of Fast Passes. I thought WDW did not do those other than the kind you have to do months in advance? And I thought they weren't currently being used at all right now and everything is standby only.

Can someone explain what I am missing?

Thank you!

Another thing you may have seen is when a ride goes down the CM may give a "FP" to return later. This is currently happening and being talked about sometimes here.

 

[coolbrook]

She'll just argue that the stroller is her rolling walker!

The difference is that you can take the rollator all the way through every line. It also signals the cast members to direct you to a way to enter the line that does not require any stairs. This is a huge help for me.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

With so many reports already I’m not sure if mine will have value anymore but here is my “just back” report. We did a very quick trip Thurs-Mon with a late arrival and early departure so really just three days. Due to a long story I won’t get into with our plans changing over and over and joining friends onsite we had a three way split stay: two nights at the Swan, one night Contemporary GW, one night Bay Lake Tower studio. We went to HS, AK, and MK. We did not take Disney transportation except the monorail, we drove our own car or walked to the parks but our friends took the bus to MK from the Swan and said they were very comfortable and did not wait long either way. For a little background on us, we have not left the house much since late March. We have not eaten inside a restaurant since March before this trip. Although our area does not have a mandatory mask order, we do wear them when we go out but we really don’t go out enough to wear them for long periods of time. Our impressions:

Swan: we got an amazing rate so decided to try it for the first time. I was concerned because I had read some negative things about crowds, long waits for elevators, and poor mask compliance. When we arrived around 6 for check in the lobby was empty, but funnily enough the first people we saw were a family who appeared dressed up for dinner walking through the lobby towards the parking lot completely maskless. It was not a great start, but we did find the mask compliance overall during our stay was about on par with the Disney resorts we stayed at which is to say good for the most part with some minor exceptions (mostly in the evening). Java was great for coffee and small meals. Loved that it opened at 6 am. The pool was lovely and not crowded. We only experienced issues with long elevator waits during high travel times such as opening and closing of HS. Il Mulino was also very good with good spacing between tables and the food was delicious. They also did take out orders quite late (until 11) which was wonderful because many of the restaurants particularly in the Crescent Lake area are closed or close early.

Contemporary: we had not stayed here before but always wanted to. We requested our room to be available at 7 am but it wasn’t ready until almost 4 pm which was kind of a bummer on a one night stay and left us homeless for quite some time which is more uncomfortable than usual wearing masks in the intense heat. Again, as we walked up to our room for the first time we encountered an entire maskless family in the lobby—strange for this to happen during both check in times as it was not the norm. Our room was very nice. The feature pool was a bit more crowded than I liked at 3pm but not unreasonable. The bullseye pool was fairly empty and we set up there for a little while before our California Grill reservation. California Grill was delicious and I’m a bit embarrassed to say that we ate there twice because the trip was for my daughters birthday and it was her favorite. I made the reservations for sunset times since there were no fireworks. Unfortunately both times we were sat in a small back room with no sunset view. I complained the second night and we were begrudgingly moved. The service was excellent the first night and exceptionally poor the second so much so that we cancelled our reservation there for our upcoming trip. Spacing was good between the tables, however. We had breakfast at Contempo Cafe the next day. Mobile order was quick and easy but our food was terrible. We had oatmeal and fruit and the fruit was sour-ish like it had started to turn while the oatmeal tasted burnt. I probably should have complained but I didn’t because the cast members were all trying so hard and I felt for them with their masks and face shields...our friends had breakfast sandwiches and they said theirs were good.

BLT: our first time here as well. We are brand new DVC and added a last minute night in a standard studio. It was awesome, clean, with a lovely view of Space MT and Bay Lake. It was actually ready earlier than I expected at 12:30 pm. We REALLY loved our stay here. CMs were very friendly from the lobby staff, to housekeeping, to the lifeguards at the pool, and the bartender at the Cove bar.

the Parks: like others have said, we were impressed with the guidelines Disney has put in place and if the guests follow them, they will be as “safe” as you can be visiting a theme park. The problem is that there are guests (rare, but they are there) who are intent on NOT following them. Examples: a young couple who pushed ahead of us in the queue for FOP—we thought they were trying to join their party but they were really just pushing as far up as they could (and we were pretty far into the line not towards the end), they didn’t mind the social distancing markers and I eventually noticed that they both had rough holes sliced into their masks like by scissors or a knife—it was honestly pretty shocking behavior. We rode FOP again and the man that was put in the room with us hopped two spots closer to us (CM didn’t say a word) and then took his mask off for the whole ride. We stopped riding FOP. Another example: BTM a family of four was behind us and the mother keep blowing through the social distancing markers and was inches from my back for most of the queue. Also her kids were pushing us. I started staring her down and she backed off a little but kept creeping up when I didn’t directly stare. On the monorail one time a family did not listen to the CM about the car they were meant to go in and came into the car with us...they were not told to leave and we were pretty uncomfortable the rest of the ride. On Astro orbiter, a teen girl kept completely taking her mask off and was not told to put it back on. It was the evening and I think the CMs were weary. In every park noses came out of the masks in the evening—more parties had at least one person with their nose out than not. I think people intend to follow the rules but it’s easy to overdo it in the heat especially if you don’t take breaks. I wish people would be honest with themselves, take breaks, and recognize their limits and utilize the relaxation areas but I rarely saw them used. I did hear CM tell people to put on their masks for pictures etc, but again as the day wore on the reminders tended to get less. I felt bad for the CM with their masks and face shields on top of it—great for keeping us safe but they have to get soooo HOT. It sounds like I’m being negative but our experience was actually good overall and mask compliance by most was very good earlier in the day except by those completely intent on breaking it.

Take aways: Plan your meals: mobile orders are GREAT but seating can sometimes be a problem with social distancing we had a very hard time finding a table at Satuli Canteen. Table service was far less stressful. I’d make at least one table service ADR per day. Take breaks—if you don’t in this heat you’ll eventually hit a wall. Your heat tolerance will be far worse in a mask too, so plan breaks for sure! Drink LOTS of water. More than you think you’ll need. Wait times were all far shorter than what was posted, so don’t be intimidated by them if they seem long. Last tip: the social distancing markers in some of the queues can have random odd spacing between them at certain points. Because of that it can be easy to get trapped between them when the line is moving and suddenly stops. Keep your eye on the feet of the party in front of you and don’t move from your marker until they’ve reached theirs. It will make more sense when you see it if you haven’t already. If you’ve held on with me through this whole post you rock because I had a lot to say, lol! We really had a great time and it was nice to be back.

That last tip is very valuable. I don't go until Dec, and maybe not then depending on Covid, so I hope I still remember then! Can you tell me about the relaxation areas--where they are and what they constitute? Thank you in advance. Very useful trip report.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Coming down this weekend. Are disposable masks more comfortable in the heat? We have plenty of cloth masks but the disposable masks seem like they would be more comfortable in the Florida heat..

Anyone have thoughts on this?

The Disney masks surprised me! They were very lightweight and comfortable. I bought one out of curiosity and wound up loving it. I switched back and forth between it and disposable masks which are very breathable but a little scratchy IMO. Bring a few options to try.

 

[Lumpy1106]

That last tip is very valuable. I don't go until Dec, and maybe not then depending on Covid, so I hope I still remember then! Can you tell me about the relaxation areas--where they are and what they constitute? Thank you in advance. Very useful trip report.

We did not find them all that useful. They are on the park maps now - I think 3 per park? It's nothing more than some tables in the shade or tables with umbrellas where you can take your mask off. I saw the one over by the exit to POTC had a CM that assigned you a table to maintain distancing. The one in SW:GE was in the blazing hot sun in a cove surrounded by rock formations on 3 sides - it got zero breeze and was just plain uncomfortable being there.

It's kinda dumb though - you can take your mask off if you are stationary and eating or drinking. So, buy a snack and find somewhere to sit - why is there a special place for taking your mask off?

 

[IluvMGM]

We did not find them all that useful. They are on the park maps now - I think 3 per park? It's nothing more than some tables in the shade or tables with umbrellas where you can take your mask off. I saw the one over by the exit to POTC had a CM that assigned you a table to maintain distancing. The one in SW:GE was in the blazing hot sun in a cove surrounded by rock formations on 3 sides - it got zero breeze and was just plain uncomfortable being there.

It's kinda dumb though - you can take your mask off if you are stationary and eating or drinking. So, buy a snack and find somewhere to sit - why is there a special place for taking your mask off?

Well, with the lack of shows to go into and cool off, I imagine the air conditioned ones will be useful when you need to cool off and take a mask break. The ones out in the sun, I agree with you, not so much.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

That last tip is very valuable. I don't go until Dec, and maybe not then depending on Covid, so I hope I still remember then! Can you tell me about the relaxation areas--where they are and what they constitute? Thank you in advance. Very useful trip report.

Here is an article that lists them in each park https://allears.net/2020/07/23/the-ultimate-guide-to-disney-worlds-relaxation-stations/

 

[Lumpy1106]

Here is an article that lists them in each park https://allears.net/2020/07/23/the-ultimate-guide-to-disney-worlds-relaxation-stations/

I will say if you are in SW:GE and want a nice place to take off your mask, go get a drink and head to the rock formation entrance over by Muppets. it's a nice large space, well shaded, plenty of air flow, and if I'm not mistaken, has air conditioning. Even if you don't take your mask off, it's far better than the relaxation station in SW:GE.