Hello everyone! Our November 29th through December 7th trip was truly flawless, and we were very fortunate! This was my first experience at Disney World (my fiancé Morgan hadn't been since she was 10) and I wanted to thank this board for all of the helpful tips and discussions - and I hope my "short" report below can also help those planning for their upcoming trips! Please move this post if it is in the incorrect thread.
Sunday, 11/29: Arrival/Disney Springs
Monday, 11/30: Magic Kingdom
Tuesday, 12/1: Animal Kingdom
Wednesday, 12/2: Hollywood Studios
Thursday, 12/3: Universal (gasp!)
Friday, 12/4: Epcot
Saturday, 12/5: Rest Day/Disney Springs
Sunday, 12/6: Magic Kingdom
Monday, 12/7: Departure
I'll outline the park days below with what we did and be warned - we rope dropped nearly all of our park days. I understand that this may not be for everyone on a Disney vacation, but it was absolutely essential for our success. As you will see below, you unfortunately cannot always rely on Disney transportation if you wish to rope drop every park.
Monday, 11/30: Magic Kingdom
Official park open was at 9 AM so we lined up at the bus stop at Pop Century around 7 AM. We were on the first bus and arrived at Magic Kingdom around 8:30 AM and took some pictures in the empty hub around the castle. We walked right onto Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and then worked our way through Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland with very minimal waits. We were done with 14 rides by 3:15 PM! Our longest wait for the day was Space Mountain and that was about 35 minutes or so (posted 45). We then hung around the park for a bit, saw PhilharMagic, took some pictures of the projections and called it a day a little after 6 PM. We took the bus back to Pop with no issues.
Tuesday, 12/1: Animal Kingdom
Official park open was at 9 AM so we lined up at the bus stop at Pop Century closer to 7:30 AM for Animal Kingdom. We were also on the first bus and walked onto Flight of Passage and were off before 9 AM. We rode everything in the park, ate, walked around, and finished the day with about a 30-minute wait at Flight of Passage. We were walking out of the park before 4:30 PM. We took the bus back to Pop with no issues.
Wednesday, 12/2: Hollywood Studios
Boarding Group 2 for Rise of the Resistance! This proved to be a blessing as the ride had issues later in the day and for the remainder of the week (we had no hiccups on our ride).
Thanks to the tips on this board, we Ubered to the nearby Speedway and walked to Hollywood Studios. We were out front by 8:30 AM. A bit early for a 10 AM open, but we didn’t want to risk it. We were walked to the temperature check around 8:45 and were in the park before 9:15 and walked on Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (which also had downtime later in the day). We then rode Slinky Dog Dash (15-minute wait) and walked on both Toy Story Mania and Alien Swirling Sauces to finish out Toy Story Land before 10 AM.
Tip: If you rope drop, ride Mickey & Minnie first and then head straight to Slinky Dog Dash. When we got off the ride, the line was backed up outside of Toy Story Land and this was still before official park open.
Our Boarding Group had been called but I knew we had time to finish out Toy Story Land so we headed to Rise of the Resistance right after. The ride was absolutely incredible! I will not spoil it, but it was so immersive. I hope everyone has a chance to experience it.
After Rise we headed to Rock n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror and waited less than 45 minutes for each ride. It was time to eat so we got Totchos at Woody’s Lunchbox (yum!) and then rode Star Tours before heading to Galaxy’s Edge for the remainder of the day.
At Galaxy’s Edge we rode Smuggler’s Run, ate dinner at Docking Bay 7, my fiancé made a BB-8 at Droid Depot, I built a lightsaber at Savi’s and we finished the night with drinks at Oga’s Cantina at 7 PM (right at park close).
Tip: If you can, wait until the end of the night to build your lightsaber so you don’t have to carry it around all day. It was also incredible to take pictures next to the Falcon in an empty Galaxy’s Edge. We took the Skyliner back to Pop for a nice, quiet nighttime ride.
Friday, December 4th: Epcot
We placed a mobile order for the Boardwalk Bakery, Ubered and rope dropped from the International Gateway. Official park open was at 11 and we were in the park around 10:15 AM and were the first two guests on Frozen Ever After! A Cast Member Supervisor was very nice and walked us through the exit so we didn’t have to wind through the line.
We rode everything in Epcot with the longest wait being at Test Track (about 45 minutes or so). We started our trek around the World Showcase at about 2:30 PM and called it a night around 7:30 as we ate in Mexico, America, Italy, Canada, and Japan…With several beverages along the way. We took the Skyliner back to Pop.
Saturday, December 5th: Rest Day
Chef Mickey’s! We Ubered to the Contemporary for our breakfast reservation. We thought it was fantastic! I finally got to try Mickey Waffles and they did not disappoint. I appreciated the price cut at $25 each as we were well fed and enjoyed the food and experience, even without characters (which I understand are returning soon). We then took the Monorail back to Magic Kingdom so we could ride it once this trip and then hopped on a bus to Pop to rest for a bit. We then Ubered to Winter Summerland for minigolf and were very thankful for the free vouchers that came with our MagicBands! From there, we Ubered to Disney Springs for some shopping and dinner/drinks to finish out the day.
Sunday, December 6th: Magic Kingdom
The park opened officially at 8 AM and we walked in right as the characters were greeting guests at the Train Station. We walked to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and the posted wait was 60 minutes, but we waited around 40 or so minutes. We then rode a few more favorites from Monday and just enjoyed our time at the park eating, walking around, taking pictures, etc. Our night ended with a reservation at Be Our Guest which really “put the cherry on top” of our trip. The food was delicious and we had a great Cast Member serve us. We took some pictures throughout the dining areas and then headed back to the bus station.
Overall we had a fantastic trip given the circumstances and we are glad that we did not cancel. We had no major issues with social distancing in lines and mask compliance was great.
We will be back hopefully soon – and thank you for reading along!
Sunday, 11/29: Arrival/Disney Springs
Monday, 11/30: Magic Kingdom
Tuesday, 12/1: Animal Kingdom
Wednesday, 12/2: Hollywood Studios
Thursday, 12/3: Universal (gasp!)
Friday, 12/4: Epcot
Saturday, 12/5: Rest Day/Disney Springs
Sunday, 12/6: Magic Kingdom
Monday, 12/7: Departure
I'll outline the park days below with what we did and be warned - we rope dropped nearly all of our park days. I understand that this may not be for everyone on a Disney vacation, but it was absolutely essential for our success. As you will see below, you unfortunately cannot always rely on Disney transportation if you wish to rope drop every park.
Monday, 11/30: Magic Kingdom
Official park open was at 9 AM so we lined up at the bus stop at Pop Century around 7 AM. We were on the first bus and arrived at Magic Kingdom around 8:30 AM and took some pictures in the empty hub around the castle. We walked right onto Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and then worked our way through Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland with very minimal waits. We were done with 14 rides by 3:15 PM! Our longest wait for the day was Space Mountain and that was about 35 minutes or so (posted 45). We then hung around the park for a bit, saw PhilharMagic, took some pictures of the projections and called it a day a little after 6 PM. We took the bus back to Pop with no issues.
Tuesday, 12/1: Animal Kingdom
Official park open was at 9 AM so we lined up at the bus stop at Pop Century closer to 7:30 AM for Animal Kingdom. We were also on the first bus and walked onto Flight of Passage and were off before 9 AM. We rode everything in the park, ate, walked around, and finished the day with about a 30-minute wait at Flight of Passage. We were walking out of the park before 4:30 PM. We took the bus back to Pop with no issues.
Wednesday, 12/2: Hollywood Studios
Boarding Group 2 for Rise of the Resistance! This proved to be a blessing as the ride had issues later in the day and for the remainder of the week (we had no hiccups on our ride).
Thanks to the tips on this board, we Ubered to the nearby Speedway and walked to Hollywood Studios. We were out front by 8:30 AM. A bit early for a 10 AM open, but we didn’t want to risk it. We were walked to the temperature check around 8:45 and were in the park before 9:15 and walked on Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (which also had downtime later in the day). We then rode Slinky Dog Dash (15-minute wait) and walked on both Toy Story Mania and Alien Swirling Sauces to finish out Toy Story Land before 10 AM.
Tip: If you rope drop, ride Mickey & Minnie first and then head straight to Slinky Dog Dash. When we got off the ride, the line was backed up outside of Toy Story Land and this was still before official park open.
Our Boarding Group had been called but I knew we had time to finish out Toy Story Land so we headed to Rise of the Resistance right after. The ride was absolutely incredible! I will not spoil it, but it was so immersive. I hope everyone has a chance to experience it.
After Rise we headed to Rock n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror and waited less than 45 minutes for each ride. It was time to eat so we got Totchos at Woody’s Lunchbox (yum!) and then rode Star Tours before heading to Galaxy’s Edge for the remainder of the day.
At Galaxy’s Edge we rode Smuggler’s Run, ate dinner at Docking Bay 7, my fiancé made a BB-8 at Droid Depot, I built a lightsaber at Savi’s and we finished the night with drinks at Oga’s Cantina at 7 PM (right at park close).
Tip: If you can, wait until the end of the night to build your lightsaber so you don’t have to carry it around all day. It was also incredible to take pictures next to the Falcon in an empty Galaxy’s Edge. We took the Skyliner back to Pop for a nice, quiet nighttime ride.
Friday, December 4th: Epcot
We placed a mobile order for the Boardwalk Bakery, Ubered and rope dropped from the International Gateway. Official park open was at 11 and we were in the park around 10:15 AM and were the first two guests on Frozen Ever After! A Cast Member Supervisor was very nice and walked us through the exit so we didn’t have to wind through the line.
We rode everything in Epcot with the longest wait being at Test Track (about 45 minutes or so). We started our trek around the World Showcase at about 2:30 PM and called it a night around 7:30 as we ate in Mexico, America, Italy, Canada, and Japan…With several beverages along the way. We took the Skyliner back to Pop.
Saturday, December 5th: Rest Day
Chef Mickey’s! We Ubered to the Contemporary for our breakfast reservation. We thought it was fantastic! I finally got to try Mickey Waffles and they did not disappoint. I appreciated the price cut at $25 each as we were well fed and enjoyed the food and experience, even without characters (which I understand are returning soon). We then took the Monorail back to Magic Kingdom so we could ride it once this trip and then hopped on a bus to Pop to rest for a bit. We then Ubered to Winter Summerland for minigolf and were very thankful for the free vouchers that came with our MagicBands! From there, we Ubered to Disney Springs for some shopping and dinner/drinks to finish out the day.
Sunday, December 6th: Magic Kingdom
The park opened officially at 8 AM and we walked in right as the characters were greeting guests at the Train Station. We walked to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and the posted wait was 60 minutes, but we waited around 40 or so minutes. We then rode a few more favorites from Monday and just enjoyed our time at the park eating, walking around, taking pictures, etc. Our night ended with a reservation at Be Our Guest which really “put the cherry on top” of our trip. The food was delicious and we had a great Cast Member serve us. We took some pictures throughout the dining areas and then headed back to the bus station.
Overall we had a fantastic trip given the circumstances and we are glad that we did not cancel. We had no major issues with social distancing in lines and mask compliance was great.
We will be back hopefully soon – and thank you for reading along!
