Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[tlmadden73]

I appreciate the reports here ... I am happy for the people who are choosing to go and having good times. But, for me, with two weeks before my trips and while I am interested in the reports of "short lines" .. not crowded .. etc. I am tempted to cancel again. I made this booking back in June when I thought things would be MUCH more back to normal by now.

I am not afraid of the virus or catching it in public places (I've gone to plenty of semi-local tourist locations (that are open) these past few months and will continue to go to more).

It is more about value to me and I am more afraid that I will be disappointed that my "happy place" will just constantly remind me of this crappy virus .. and things like everyone wearing a mask, plexiglass barriers, lack of pre-shows, lack of M&Gs, closed attractions, lack of dining options (or waiting in long lines for dining) will just make me upset that things are not heading back to "normal" (yet) and it won't feel like a "vacation". If I was planning on going with just my wife -- sure .. but going with the young kids (one of which (4yo) I am not even sure will wear a mask hours on end) .. I just don't think that will be a "fun" environment. I don't want to be harassed if my 4yo refuses to wear a mask .. nor do I want to have to leave the parks or fight with her if she continues to resist.

One of my main issues is how the year is looking .. . I was planning on activating an annual pass for the trip .. and I don't feel that January 2021 to January 2022 isn't the year to do that and plan multiple trips. Maybe a Summer or Fall 2021 would be better time to activate it.

So .. with the announcements of similar discounts for Spring .. I may delay the trip again by another few months and go when I feel I am getting the value and the vacation I TRULY want with my money. Disney (and the virus itself) is not where I was hoping it to be when I booked the trip 6 months ago.
So despite the prospect of going during a cheaper time and SUPER low crowds, I may delay until more "normal"

With the flexible cancellation policy, I may just wait until a few days before to make the final decision.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

I don't want to be harassed if my 4yo refuses to wear a mask .. nor do I want to have to leave the parks or fight with her if she continues to resist.

If your kiddo won’t wear a mask then I would absolutely reschedule because you will be asked to leave.

 

[corn princess]

If I was planning on going with just my wife -- sure .. but going with the young kids (one of which (4yo) I am not even sure will wear a mask hours on end) .. I just don't think that will be a "fun" environment. I don't want to be harassed if my 4yo refuses to wear a mask .. nor do I want to have to leave the parks or fight with her if she continues to resist.

If your 4 year old won't wear a mask I would absolutely cancel. I saw them asking for ages of kids in strollers the entire trip and if they were older than 2, they made them put a mask on. HOwever, if the mask just slides down or is off all they'll do is ask him/her to pull it up and go on their way. I will say we practiced with my 5 year old and she did such a good job wearing it.

 

[tlmadden73]

If your kiddo won’t wear a mask then I would absolutely reschedule because you will be asked to leave.

I think she could do it .. she probably would surprise us as she may be distracted enough to not care. Some days she wears them without complaint. It's just not like we've had an opportunity to "practice" wearing them for hours on end (maybe 30-60 minutes tops)

I don't want her (or our) memory of a WDW trip to be soured because she had to be reprimanded by a poor CM just doing their job. But hey . maybe someone ELSE telling her (rather than her parents) may get her to comply without complaint? It's one thing that home schooling has taught us .. kids will let you know what they DON'T want to do with force something they would easily do without complaint if being asked by a teacher!

 

[ckb_nc]

Just got back from a quick trip 1/3-1/6. We added Park Hopping at the last minute. It was super easy. I did it through the app. PHing could not have been easier. On Sunday, we started at MK and rode everything we wanted. Wait times were often very inflated. TMRR was posted at 45 and we waited about 16 minutes. SM was posted at 65 and we waited 45. The lines moved so fast that it never seemed that you waited very long. We then PHed over the AK. We were in our own car that day and had no issues with parking at the second park. We rode EE (35 min wait posted, actual wait 12 minutes), the Safari and then FOP twice. For FOP, they aren't doing the body scans so you don't have a specific avatar that you link up with. It was fine without that. After that park closed, we went to our hotel (Swan) and took the boat to Epcot. They had the plexiglass installed so you could have two people per row. They did not allow standing on the boat. Waits were pretty much non-existent on a Sunday night in Epcot (walk-on for Soaring at 8:20).

We started the next day at HS. We did get a ROR time during the 7am drop. However, RR was down for the entire day so that made the lines pretty long for everything in the park. I don't think we waited less than 30 minutes for anything and the posted times were pretty dead on to what we actually waited. I must say, I LOVE ROR with the new Covid protocols. I'm a little on the short side, and since they assign you colored circles to stand on for each part, you actually can see everything. There are times on that ride that I've felt a little claustrophobic in the past. Not this time. In fact, my DD asked if they had made certain rooms larger. No, it just wasn't crowded and was pretty amazing. We did MilFal and they were still doing just one party per pod. Each of us finally got to be the pilots. Super fun. They did have plexiglass set up do you could have a group of 4 and then a group of 2. Later in the day we went to Epcot and it was lovely. DD was a little sad they you can't do the peals in Japan right now and TT seemed super odd. You can't create your own vehicles. They have pre-assigned ones that you use during the "test," but you aren't really sure which vehicle they are testing. It just seemed a bit off. I'm not sure I would wait for it if it was more than a 30 min wait.

The next few days were just more of the same. It was cool while we were there so masks weren't an issue. I don't think we ever saw someone without a mask--except on the boardwalk and the path to HS. At one point we were walking from HS to the Swan. We were the only people on the path so we lowered our masks. A lifeguard walked out on the Boardwalk property, saw us and told us to put our masks back on. She had to be 60 yards from us and was the only person we could see. We did put them back on. I went running on a few mornings. I did have a mask that I would raise/lower if I approached anyone on the paths. There were six other runners I encountered. Five had no masks and one did.

We are going back in May and it will be interesting to compare the experiences.

I ran one day with a mask on - I never wear a mask exercising outdoors ever but it felt like the right thing to do. I hated it.

 

[ckb_nc]

I have been following every trip report rabidly for the past year due to having to re-book three times now. It "seems" that more people are reporting better enforcement's on their protocols more recently. I have however seen some nightmare reports sprinkled in so I have to wonder if a lot of the "sparkling" ones are a bit clouded OR if some people expected too much. I am sure I am not alone in devouring everything here, anyone else have a take on it? I am staying hopeful that things will feel mostly safe. My trip is at the end of Feb and SW won't work with me so I am "stuck" at this point.

It is all about perspective - I felt really safe at WDW. Like glad we went but also lowered my expectations. That said, you can do so much if you get up early. Like insane amounts of attractions.

We did not order food in the parks one time - partly because we love to explore and frankly we wanted a break mid-day.

I had a couple of exceptions.

1) The walkway from Fantasyland past Peter Pan to HM is always a nightmare and I just avoided if I could by midday. But this is true every trip.

2) The only other time in the parks as the entrance into Galaxy's Edge by Muppets. Felt like rope drop but it was like noon.

DS - yeah that is a different story

 

[Orion Nebula]

It is all about perspective - I felt really safe at WDW. Like glad we went but also lowered my expectations. That said, you can do so much if you get up early. Like insane amounts of attractions.

We did not order food in the parks one time - partly because we love to explore and frankly we wanted a break mid-day.

I had a couple of exceptions.

1) The walkway from Fantasyland past Peter Pan to HM is always a nightmare and I just avoided if I could by midday. But this is true every trip.

2) The only other time in the parks as the entrance into Galaxy's Edge by Muppets. Felt like rope drop but it was like noon.

DS - yeah that is a different story

Ya our expectations are already low, luckily we do go often so this won't be our first step into WDW. I am going to note 1 & 2 and keep it in mind. One question, why do you think the parks were so empty at opening? I figured it might be worse due to the shorter hours. Oh and when was your trip?

 

[MomOTwins]

I think she could do it .. she probably would surprise us as she may be distracted enough to not care. Some days she wears them without complaint. It's just not like we've had an opportunity to "practice" wearing them for hours on end (maybe 30-60 minutes tops)

I don't want her (or our) memory of a WDW trip to be soured because she had to be reprimanded by a poor CM just doing their job. But hey . maybe someone ELSE telling her (rather than her parents) may get her to comply without complaint? It's one thing that home schooling has taught us .. kids will let you know what they DON'T want to do with force something they would easily do without complaint if being asked by a teacher!

Anecdotally, the parents who seem to have no trouble with kids wearing masks are the ones who, rather than framing is as "having to" wear a mask, framing it as "getting to" wear a "special" mask that "lets" them go to disney world, with lots of positive reinforcement on how great the mask looks and how glad we are to have the mask so we can go on rides. We let our four year old pick out his masks last year from the disney store and he would wake up in the morning so excited to wear his Elsa mask--wearing it while watching tv the hotel room while we got ready before we left the room. We did something similar with magic bands when he was younger--he used to fuss and pull it off, but when we ordered him a special one with a character before the trip and kept showing it to him and talking about how it was his "ticket to disney world" he loved it.

One time he did get a bit hot/cranky at the park and pulled it off and instead of telling him to put it back on we stepped aside and started pointing out everyone else's fun masks--"look at everyone wearing their masks--he has a mickey mask! wow, that girl has an elsa mask just like you". He put it on himself.

Ya our expectations are already low, luckily we do go often so this won't be our first step into WDW. I am going to note 1 & 2 and keep it in mind. One question, why do you think the parks were so empty at opening? I figured it might be worse due to the shorter hours. Oh and when was your trip?

My personal theory, FWIW, is that most people don't realize the parks are opening well before their posted opening time so wait to show up until at or after the official opening time. That and, anecdotally, a lot of people I talked to were Florida APs living an hour or so away who have to build in time in the morning to drive in, unlike resort guests who can wake up and be at the parks in no time.

It was definitely worse at Epcot though, given how late it has been opening. Lines were actually worst in the first couple of hours and got much better in the afternoon/evening.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Question: with hopping back, what is Epcot like at night? Are people heading over in the PM hours after other parks close/to eat dinner? Is it crowded, or doable/pleasant?

 

[Raemama]

... "getting to" wear a "special" mask that "lets" them go to disney world, with lots of positive reinforcement on how great the mask looks and how glad we are to have the mask so we can go on rides.

I like this. I’m going to try it on myself!

 

[shoegal9]

Question: with hopping back, what is Epcot like at night? Are people heading over in the PM hours after other parks close/to eat dinner? Is it crowded, or doable/pleasant?

I was at EPCOT Sunday night and left at park close. It didn't seem overly crowded to me. We were able to walk up and get drinks without a wait...even the Mexico Pavilion line was pretty short. That being said, it was a week without a festival. So, come tomorrow and Festival of the Arts that could change.

 

[Orion Nebula]

With the flexible cancellation policy, I may just wait until a few days before to make the final decision.

Man it sucks for me, I am stuck due to plane tickets. My wife and I ONLY are on the fence due to it. I would like to thank Southwest for "helping" out in these times by the way (joking). It sounds REALLY weird, but due to going so much this trip almost sounds a bit special in a surreal way. Such as someday I will be able to look back and say I got to experience "post apocalyptic" Disney, complete with a photo album without faces. lol

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

I appreciate the reports here ... I am happy for the people who are choosing to go and having good times. But, for me, with two weeks before my trips and while I am interested in the reports of "short lines" .. not crowded .. etc. I am tempted to cancel again. I made this booking back in June when I thought things would be MUCH more back to normal by now.

I am not afraid of the virus or catching it in public places (I've gone to plenty of semi-local tourist locations (that are open) these past few months and will continue to go to more).

It is more about value to me and I am more afraid that I will be disappointed that my "happy place" will just constantly remind me of this crappy virus .. and things like everyone wearing a mask, plexiglass barriers, lack of pre-shows, lack of M&Gs, closed attractions, lack of dining options (or waiting in long lines for dining) will just make me upset that things are not heading back to "normal" (yet) and it won't feel like a "vacation". If I was planning on going with just my wife -- sure .. but going with the young kids (one of which (4yo) I am not even sure will wear a mask hours on end) .. I just don't think that will be a "fun" environment. I don't want to be harassed if my 4yo refuses to wear a mask .. nor do I want to have to leave the parks or fight with her if she continues to resist.

One of my main issues is how the year is looking .. . I was planning on activating an annual pass for the trip .. and I don't feel that January 2021 to January 2022 isn't the year to do that and plan multiple trips. Maybe a Summer or Fall 2021 would be better time to activate it.

So .. with the announcements of similar discounts for Spring .. I may delay the trip again by another few months and go when I feel I am getting the value and the vacation I TRULY want with my money. Disney (and the virus itself) is not where I was hoping it to be when I booked the trip 6 months ago.
So despite the prospect of going during a cheaper time and SUPER low crowds, I may delay until more "normal"

With the flexible cancellation policy, I may just wait until a few days before to make the final decision.

Having just gone over Thanksgiving week, I do think your plan to reschedule is probably best. Nothing to do with lack of "precautions and safety measures" more to do with lack of things a 4 y.o. would love. We definitely enjoyed our vacation but it just felt "different". It was definitely needed "mentally" and was wonderful to see all of the holiday decorations but for "me" a lot of the Disney vibe was missing, some of it due to lack of characters, parades, fireworks, food etc but some of it was due to constantly trying to make sure we are being safe and not forgetting to mask up when getting up a from a table to go the restroom (found I did this multiple times..ugh), sanitizing etc. If you don't mind waiting to go, I think the experience will be much better a bit later on in 2021 for a 4 y.o. Good luck in whichever you decide to do, I know it's a tough decision..

 

[tlmadden73]

Man it sucks for me, I am stuck due to plane tickets. My wife and I ONLY are on the fence due to it. I would like to thank Southwest for "helping" out in these times by the way (joking). It sounds REALLY weird, but due to going so much this trip almost sounds a bit special in a surreal way. Such as someday I will be able to look back and say I got to experience "post apocalyptic" Disney, complete with a photo album without faces. lol

Ya .. the only reason I considered even going is because I can (and always) drive (9 hours away).

Having just gone over Thanksgiving week, I do think your plan to reschedule is probably best. Nothing to do with lack of "precautions and safety measures" more to do with lack of things a 4 y.o. would love. We definitely enjoyed our vacation but it just felt "different".

That is partially it too. My sister in-law went and she said the toughest part was wearing a mask (and remembering to be constantly aware of it) and having to tell their 3 yo "Sorry .. you can't meet that princess today" a lot.

I want to go because it is the perfect "Princess" time for my daughter (she last went when she was 2 and 3/4 .. so a bit too young. But no M&Gs, not even any princess character meals. But I think I still have another year of that "Princess" time.

She is the one we have the AP for .. so I don't want to "waste" her ticket going at a time it may feel "different" and during a time I may not want to go again before December 2021 if things don't go more normal.

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

Ya .. the only reason I considered even going is because I can (and always) drive (9 hours away).


That is partially it too. My sister in-law went and she said the toughest part was wearing a mask (and remembering to be constantly aware of it) and having to tell their 3 yo "Sorry .. you can't meet that princess today" a lot.

I want to go because it is the perfect "Princess" time for my daughter (she last went when she was 2 and 3/4 .. so a bit too young. But no M&Gs, not even any princess character meals. But I think I still have another year of that "Princess" time.

She is the one we have the AP for .. so I don't want to "waste" her ticket going at a time it may feel "different" and during a time I may not want to go again before December 2021 if things don't go more normal.

Exactly, I think you still have another good year or so for the perfect Princess time I too am hoping to go back later in 2021 but holding out a bit to see if we can get some more Disney magic back to the parks...we will see.

 

[Orion Nebula]

That is partially it too. My sister in-law went and she said the toughest part was wearing a mask (and remembering to be constantly aware of it)

It's just a part of life here (have one on now at work), and we have to wear them inside stores. The only time I don't have one on is at home. I would honestly say it's starting to feel "weird" when I don't wear one.

 

[TravelandLeisure]

I would wait if I were in your shoes. When my daughter was that age, she loved meet and greets, parades, and character meals even more than the rides. She also had a blast going to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and getting all dolled up before eating dinner with Cinderella. It’s sad that none of these experiences are currently available—it just doesn’t feel like Disney to me.

Our last trip was December 2019, and we probably won’t return until at least 2022. I want everything back to normal so that my youngest can have the same, great experience her sister did.

 

[tlmadden73]

I would wait if I were in your shoes. When my daughter was that age, she loved meet and greets, parades, and character meals even more than the rides. She also had a blast going to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and getting all dolled up before eating dinner with Cinderella. It’s sad that none of these experiences are currently available—it just doesn’t feel like Disney to me.

Our last trip was December 2019, and we probably won’t return until at least 2022. I want everything back to normal so that my youngest can have the same, great experience her sister did.

That is a good perspective. I remember her cousin (now 9) loved the Bibbidi experience 5 years ago .. I wouldn't want my daughter to miss out on that or "waste" a trip where we can't do that (because Daddy wants an escape ... LOL). Take the money I would spend on this trip and save it for a special experience when they are available again.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I appreciate the reports here ... I am happy for the people who are choosing to go and having good times. But, for me, with two weeks before my trips and while I am interested in the reports of "short lines" .. not crowded .. etc. I am tempted to cancel again. I made this booking back in June when I thought things would be MUCH more back to normal by now.

I am not afraid of the virus or catching it in public places (I've gone to plenty of semi-local tourist locations (that are open) these past few months and will continue to go to more).

It is more about value to me and I am more afraid that I will be disappointed that my "happy place" will just constantly remind me of this crappy virus .. and things like everyone wearing a mask, plexiglass barriers, lack of pre-shows, lack of M&Gs, closed attractions, lack of dining options (or waiting in long lines for dining) will just make me upset that things are not heading back to "normal" (yet) and it won't feel like a "vacation". If I was planning on going with just my wife -- sure .. but going with the young kids (one of which (4yo) I am not even sure will wear a mask hours on end) .. I just don't think that will be a "fun" environment. I don't want to be harassed if my 4yo refuses to wear a mask .. nor do I want to have to leave the parks or fight with her if she continues to resist.

One of my main issues is how the year is looking .. . I was planning on activating an annual pass for the trip .. and I don't feel that January 2021 to January 2022 isn't the year to do that and plan multiple trips. Maybe a Summer or Fall 2021 would be better time to activate it.

So .. with the announcements of similar discounts for Spring .. I may delay the trip again by another few months and go when I feel I am getting the value and the vacation I TRULY want with my money. Disney (and the virus itself) is not where I was hoping it to be when I booked the trip 6 months ago.
So despite the prospect of going during a cheaper time and SUPER low crowds, I may delay until more "normal"

With the flexible cancellation policy, I may just wait until a few days before to make the final decision.

how has our 4 year old done at the local spots? around here anyone over 2 must wear a mask at most spots. from what I am hearing sounds like you might cancel and go later in the year

 

[EEPETEZ]

My husband and I were supposed to go May 2020 and of course we cancelled. It was honestly really sad for us because it was supposed to be our first trip together with our daughter who was born back in 2019. We didn't go when I was pregnant so it's been a while for us and we are itching to go back. However we are both taking this pandemic pretty seriously and we are wrestling with going or not. We keep booking and pushing back our trip. We are now booked for May 1-7 of this year but are still mentally preparing to cancel if we aren't comfortable.

My question is for people who still very concerned about Covid, when will you feel comfortable enough to go, or if you were very concerned but still decided to go what made you decide that you were okay with going? (Sidenote I did ask that first question in someone elses thread but I wanted to expand on it. Sorry for the redundancy). Also, a new question I have is if you went what other precautions or hacks did you take?

My husband works in a hospital so he will be getting the vaccine sometime this week. My daughter and I will probably not be vaccinated yet. I do think Disney is taking awesome steps to ensure guests safety although I am finding some things I'm not as comfortable with such as raising capacity or seating strangers next to each other on rides instead of doing social distancing. I'm prepared to leave the parks early if I find them too crowded, or to speak up when I see someone who isn't wearing a mask or mask isn't covering their nose. I'm okay with washing my hands all the time and I honestly love wearing masks (weird I know) but I'm sure that may be harder when its hot and humid. So yeah. I'm conflicted. Just wondering everyone else's thought process and what makes them decide it is or isn't worth the risk.

Thanks for reading my messy thread

We went for 5 days the week of Dec 10th. We are extremely careful about COVID as my husband is in the hospital as well. I honestly just wanted to see the Christmas Decorations and I was ok not doing anything else if it felt unsafe-but here is the thing-it didn’t. I saw 100% mask compliance and procedures were really good. Now this was right before they increased ride capacity-so I’m not sure how I feel about that, but the way things were when were there were great. We did do things like only rode rides until about 11am everyday, tried to have our mobile order ready right as restaurants opened (we were normally the first people in), avoided choke points (like tangled bathroom walkway, etc) and found other things to do when the parks were most crowded in the afternoons. We had an awesome time. I was shocked at how well procedures were thought out.