Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[disneygirlsng]

how annoying to have to get back in line for the skyliner! Another poster stated they didn’t have to. Super conflicting. We would love to take the skyliner but now I’m not sure...

I did not have to go to the back of the line coming from Pop, can't speak to how it is from Riviera though. They essentially had us in our own line and they would alternate between the different lines they had formed. There was a 3rd line, I had assumed it was from those coming from Riviera based on it being near the Epcot side, but I can't confirm.

 

[lovethattink]

So I got back a week ago and just now have the chance to update. Just my wife and I went (4 nights at Riviera, with Epcot-Fri/DHS-Sat/Epcot-Sun/MK-Mon/AK-Tues park days).

The Good:
- Barely any wait times. I think the longest we waited was 25 mins at MMRC (rope drop), Slinky, and 7DMT. Everything else was walk-on/5 mins (when we rode, at least).
- CMs were great as always.
- WDW did a great job with social distancing.
- Mask compliance was amazing.
- Riviera was a very nice hotel (coming in just behind GF and Poly).
- Skyliner is super-convenient (at times).
- Brown Derby is a new favorite for us (had never been there).
- Epcot food and wine festival (some of our faves - Frozen Smores with vodka, Lobster roll, Street corn funnel cake, etc.)
- Very few strollers/scooters in the park (not sure how to explain that, but it opened things up for foot traffic even more while also making bus access more efficient).
- Between 8:30 and 11:30 at AK, we had ridden Dinosaur, Everest (twice - only ones on the ride), Safaris, Kali River Rapids, Tough to be a Bug, and Flight of Passage). Under the current circumstances with no shows and no Tuskerhouse, I would only plan for a 1/2 day here. We ate at Yak n Yeti, and left the park around 1pm.
- Even at MK, we did everything we wanted to do and left at 4:30pm after being the 1st ones on Main Street that morning. Space Mtn twice, BTMR twice, Splash, 7DMT, Dumbo, Under the Sea, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz ride, Pirates, Country Bears, Carousel of Progress, Haunted Mansion, and Hall of Presidents. We did Sleepy Hollow for a quick lunch.

The Bad:
- SOOOOO much is closed. Stores, kiosks, food carts, restaurants, etc. - all closed. I get that WDW can't afford to bring all CMs back immediately when crowds are lower, but I had no idea it was THIS bad. Some of our favorite shops/snacks were simply not available on this trip - disappointing.
- We had to spend about 90 minutes at City Hall to sort through a Magic Band issue where we couldn't room-charge. We finally figured out that when our resort merged our 2 separate 2-night reservations into one, they didn't copy the credit card on file on the 1st reservation over to the 2nd reservation, so we were not able to charge starting on Monday at MK until we got back to the resort later that night. Fortunately, my wife had Apple Pay because we didn't have any credit cards with us in the parks.
- Disney transportation. Left DHS mid-day to head to B&C for ice cream and had to walk because the boats weren't running. The buses were okay, but we often had to wait 15-30 minutes for a bus (probably again due to reduced operation based on lower crowds). The Skyliner we loved, but the hours were tough. After a late dinner at Brown Derby, it had already shut down, so we had to Uber it.
- Skyliner (process) - We were 1st in line at Riviera so we could get inside DHS as early as possible. Unfortunately, when it stops at CBR, you have to get in the BACK of the line to switch to the DHS line. This seemed a bit unfair to us and set us back about 15 minutes.
- It was most crowded at DHS (Saturday, duh!). We didn't get ROTH virtual passes despite our best efforts, although it appeared it was down for most of the day, so it may not have mattered anyways. Around 5pm, we walked by ROTR and they were only on Groups 13-18(!!!). Regardless, we did everything else (and LOVED MMRC...so good).

That’s the same for the Skyliner from Pop, have to get back in line at CBR to go to Epcot or DHS.

 

[ksueboo]

We just left after a 3 night stay at CBR. We went to HS on Saturday, arriving via bus at 9:10am because Skyliner was having issues. Held at temp check tent until 9:15 then headed straight for MRR. The ride started running at exactly 9:30am, we were the 17th group in line and we were off in time to walk to GE and got a BG. My DH and I both tried, he was on the Virtual Q page refreshing and I was on the home page (opened it 3 min till 10). His phone won with BG 12. We were called approx 11ish. Amazing ride.
Wait times definitely inflated by almost double. The Orchestra show was nice and a great way to avoid the rain. The Mulan preview was good and so was the Mickey Short theater. Just a few things outside of the normal that you can break from the heat and do! We did every ride/attraction except Star Tours and Muppets, and plenty of time to stop and eat lunch. I would guess 95% mask compliance, lots of hand sanitizers everywhere, and generally everyone being safe and having fun.
Overall it was a great day, but the feel of the park is definitely different.

 

[sara_s]

Early MK report! Caveat - we’re FL AP’s and this was a test run. We’ve been overly cautious during the pandemic and I was concerned about MK crowds. Turns out, I didn’t need to be!

Pros:
-Everything we did was a walk on - to the point where we were trying to keep space between us and party ahead of us but also had to keep up.
-POTC - 5 mins
-BTMR - 10
- HM - less than 5
- Castle photos are easy to get and plenty of room to stand and get a good one. Same with walkways.
-Pretty much full compliance with masks. One guy in boat ahead of us in Pirates had his nose peeking out and the CM corrected it before they let the boat go.
- Shops were pretty empty too. I’ve never seen the Confectionary so empty!
- We decided to go back to the hotel (WL) for lunch and good thing we did - it started pouring while we were waiting for boat. Then it cleared up within 10 mins and cooled off.

Cons:
- Not many. Some of the CM’s aren’t quite as friendly in the sense of telling you what to do. So sometimes they seem annoyed that you can’t read their mind, especially because of the masks. I just try to be friendly because I am so happy to see them all.
- Only social distancing issue we had this morning was in queue for HM. Like I said above, sometimes it’s moving too fast and you try to give the party ahead of you room to move, but the people behind us were on us for the entire time we were stopping and going. Two CMs didn’t say anything. If we hadn’t gotten through so quickly I was about to ask them to give me some space.

Weather depending, we may go back in after the storms this afternoon.

 

[disneygirlsng]

That’s the same for the Skyliner from Pop, have to get back in line at CBR to go to Epcot or DHS.

I did not have to do that last week when the Skyliner first opened for DHS opening. They had a separate line for those getting off Pop and merged it with the CBR people as well as another line (I had assumed it was Riviera). They would send 5 or so groups from one line, then switch to the other, and kept rotating so it was pretty even, but we did not have to go to the end of the line of those coming from CBR.

 

[ghtx]

So I got back a week ago and just now have the chance to update. Just my wife and I went (4 nights at Riviera, with Epcot-Fri/DHS-Sat/Epcot-Sun/MK-Mon/AK-Tues park days).

The Good:
- Barely any wait times. I think the longest we waited was 25 mins at MMRC (rope drop), Slinky, and 7DMT. Everything else was walk-on/5 mins (when we rode, at least).
- CMs were great as always.
- WDW did a great job with social distancing.
- Mask compliance was amazing.
- Riviera was a very nice hotel (coming in just behind GF and Poly).
- Skyliner is super-convenient (at times).
- Brown Derby is a new favorite for us (had never been there).
- Epcot food and wine festival (some of our faves - Frozen Smores with vodka, Lobster roll, Street corn funnel cake, etc.)
- Very few strollers/scooters in the park (not sure how to explain that, but it opened things up for foot traffic even more while also making bus access more efficient).
- Between 8:30 and 11:30 at AK, we had ridden Dinosaur, Everest (twice - only ones on the ride), Safaris, Kali River Rapids, Tough to be a Bug, and Flight of Passage). Under the current circumstances with no shows and no Tuskerhouse, I would only plan for a 1/2 day here. We ate at Yak n Yeti, and left the park around 1pm.
- Even at MK, we did everything we wanted to do and left at 4:30pm after being the 1st ones on Main Street that morning. Space Mtn twice, BTMR twice, Splash, 7DMT, Dumbo, Under the Sea, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz ride, Pirates, Country Bears, Carousel of Progress, Haunted Mansion, and Hall of Presidents. We did Sleepy Hollow for a quick lunch.

The Bad:
- SOOOOO much is closed. Stores, kiosks, food carts, restaurants, etc. - all closed. I get that WDW can't afford to bring all CMs back immediately when crowds are lower, but I had no idea it was THIS bad. Some of our favorite shops/snacks were simply not available on this trip - disappointing.
- We had to spend about 90 minutes at City Hall to sort through a Magic Band issue where we couldn't room-charge. We finally figured out that when our resort merged our 2 separate 2-night reservations into one, they didn't copy the credit card on file on the 1st reservation over to the 2nd reservation, so we were not able to charge starting on Monday at MK until we got back to the resort later that night. Fortunately, my wife had Apple Pay because we didn't have any credit cards with us in the parks.
- Disney transportation. Left DHS mid-day to head to B&C for ice cream and had to walk because the boats weren't running. The buses were okay, but we often had to wait 15-30 minutes for a bus (probably again due to reduced operation based on lower crowds). The Skyliner we loved, but the hours were tough. After a late dinner at Brown Derby, it had already shut down, so we had to Uber it.
- Skyliner (process) - We were 1st in line at Riviera so we could get inside DHS as early as possible. Unfortunately, when it stops at CBR, you have to get in the BACK of the line to switch to the DHS line. This seemed a bit unfair to us and set us back about 15 minutes.
- It was most crowded at DHS (Saturday, duh!). We didn't get ROTH virtual passes despite our best efforts, although it appeared it was down for most of the day, so it may not have mattered anyways. Around 5pm, we walked by ROTR and they were only on Groups 13-18(!!!). Regardless, we did everything else (and LOVED MMRC...so good).

Glad that you enjoyed the trip even without getting a boarding group for ROTR. That is our big fear, and hopefully if we are unsuccessful we'll still be able to enjoy ourselves at DHS.

 

[mouselovenfamily]

Glad that you enjoyed the trip even without getting a boarding group for ROTR. That is our big fear, and hopefully if we are unsuccessful we'll still be able to enjoy ourselves at DHS.

Wow! What is the huge draw for this ride? I'm nervous I may get sick on it but for my group we will try to get passes so they can ride. I can't imagine not riding a ride could possibly ruin my day.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Wow! What is the huge draw for this ride? I'm nervous I may get sick on it but for my group we will try to get passes so they can ride. I can't imagine not riding a ride could possibly ruin my day.

It's new, it's Star Wars, it is the most technologically advanced ride I've ever seen, and it's loads of fun!! It really is a whole experience that is hard to put into words without doing it (or spoiling it), but it is way more than just a ride. There really is just brief sections of video with mostly actual scenes that you go through, likely causing minimal motion sickness. If you aren't a Star Wars fan I could see how it wouldn't be as big of a draw, but if you are even a casual fan, then it absolutely is a must-do.

And since there are limited spots available and you have to go through the boarding group process, it builds up the excitement for it even more.

 

[mouselovenfamily]

It's new, it's Star Wars, it is the most technologically advanced ride I've ever seen, and it's loads of fun!! It really is a whole experience that is hard to put into words without doing it (or spoiling it), but it is way more than just a ride. There really is just brief sections of video with mostly actual scenes that you go through, likely causing minimal motion sickness. If you aren't a Star Wars fan I could see how it wouldn't be as big of a draw, but if you are even a casual fan, then it absolutely is a must-do.

And since there are limited spots available and you have to go through the boarding group process, it builds up the excitement for it even more.

We will try for sure, just hope Im not sick if I do it. We are soooo looking forward to being out of town, not much will ruin this trip. Thank you!

 

[disneygirlsng]

We will try for sure, just hope Im not sick if I do it. We are soooo looking forward to being out of town, not much will ruin this trip. Thank you!

I can get sensitive to motion at times, but there were no issues at all on this ride. I've also never really heard many people mentioning it about this ride. Smuggler's Run may be more likely to cause sickness.

 

[cjlong88]

Any thoughts on why they are inflating the wait times?

I think there may be multiple factors contributing to this, but they are just guesses. Disney might be having a more challenging time determining an accurate wait time because of the social distancing markers in queues. They are probably factoring in time to clean the rides. It can also be the good old "under promise over deliver" mindset. Better to overestimate than underestimate. Who knows really.

Here were my experiences with wait times this past weekend (what was posted vs. what we actually waited):

EPCOT:
FEA - 35 minutes posted; 25 minute wait
TT - 30 minutes posted; 10 minute wat
Soarin' - 20 minutes posted; walk-on
Journey into Imagination - 15 minutes posted; walk-on
Spaceship Earth - 5 minutes posted; 5 minute wait (due to cleaning)
Nemo - 15 minute posted; walk-on

MK:
BTMRR - 35 minutes posted; 20 minute wait
HM - 20 minutes posted; 5 minute wait
SDMT - 20 minutes posted; 10 minute wait (both times)
Tomorrowland "Speed"way - 15 minute posted; 5 minute wait
Space - 30 minute posted; 10 minute wait (all 3 times)
Buzz - 10 minute posted; walk-on
PhilharMagic - 15 minute posted; 15 minute wait (due to cleaning)
Little Mermaid - 15 minute posted; 15 minute wait

The times are the lowest at the beginning and end of the day. Plan the most popular rides at rope drop and park close and you will get to ride them with minimal waits. I still stand by my statement that riding PotC, Splash, and BTMRR at park open is an excellent strategy. Those waits were high during the late morning and well into the afternoon, but were quite short first thing in the morning.

The only reason we didn't ride Splash and PotC on Saturday is because they were both down right after we got of BTMRR (both were posted at 5 minutes), which was a bummer. Once they opened back up, their wait times were high, but I would imagine that their actual wait times would have been shorter so long as we didn't run into a cleaning cycle. We just didn't feel like gambling it and decided to play Sorcerers instead.

 

[momof2halls]

Here’s how our day went today at MK
Arrived At the park at 1045am
Waited 15min @ Starbucks, sat at Casey’s and ate breakfast then headed to ride
Buzz - posted 5 walk on
Space Mountain- posted 5, walk on, rode 2 times in a row
Mine Train- posted 25, Actual 16 mins (leisurely walk through the queue)
Peter Pan- posted 15, actual 7 mins
Spash- posted 30, Actual 20 mins (hit cleaning cycle 1/2 way through queue)
2pm- Mobile ordered at Pecos Bills, sat inside and ate. Took about an hour total.
Pirates of the Caribbean- posted 10, actual 30mins watched them clean every boat
Big thunder mountain- (rode 2 times) posted 5 then 10, walk on 1st time, 5min 2nd time
Haunted Mansion- posted 25, actual 5min
It’s a small world-posted 10, Actual 4mins
Philharmagic- posted 10, actual 5mins
Little Mermaid- posted 15, walk on
Mine train- posted 20, Actual 13mins
Space Mtn- posted 5, walk on

 

[only hope]

Early MK report! Caveat - we’re FL AP’s and this was a test run. We’ve been overly cautious during the pandemic and I was concerned about MK crowds. Turns out, I didn’t need to be!

Pros:
-Everything we did was a walk on - to the point where we were trying to keep space between us and party ahead of us but also had to keep up.
-POTC - 5 mins
-BTMR - 10
- HM - less than 5
- Castle photos are easy to get and plenty of room to stand and get a good one. Same with walkways.
-Pretty much full compliance with masks. One guy in boat ahead of us in Pirates had his nose peeking out and the CM corrected it before they let the boat go.
- Shops were pretty empty too. I’ve never seen the Confectionary so empty!
- We decided to go back to the hotel (WL) for lunch and good thing we did - it started pouring while we were waiting for boat. Then it cleared up within 10 mins and cooled off.

Cons:
- Not many. Some of the CM’s aren’t quite as friendly in the sense of telling you what to do. So sometimes they seem annoyed that you can’t read their mind, especially because of the masks. I just try to be friendly because I am so happy to see them all.
- Only social distancing issue we had this morning was in queue for HM. Like I said above, sometimes it’s moving too fast and you try to give the party ahead of you room to move, but the people behind us were on us for the entire time we were stopping and going. Two CMs didn’t say anything. If we hadn’t gotten through so quickly I was about to ask them to give me some space.

Weather depending, we may go back in after the storms this afternoon.

We don’t move from our marker until the next one is clear. That way if the group in front moved prematurely and does the backslide, we are still distanced.

Wow! What is the huge draw for this ride? I'm nervous I may get sick on it but for my group we will try to get passes so they can ride. I can't imagine not riding a ride could possibly ruin my day.

Without getting into spoilers, it is the most immersive attraction I’ve ever been on, by a long shot. It makes the Harry Potter stuff at Universal look like childs play. So for huge SW fans, it an amazing experience to literally step into that world and be part of a story. Most attractions you just witness a story.

 

[ksueboo]

Wow! What is the huge draw for this ride? I'm nervous I may get sick on it but for my group we will try to get passes so they can ride. I can't imagine not riding a ride could possibly ruin my day.

I am very sensitive to virtual motion rides. Smugglers Run made me sick almost right from the start. The second time I rode it, I chose to be the gunner and never looked out the “windows” and did fine. With ROTR, I was totally fine. No motion sickness at all except for the Pre show area where you are on the transport vehicle (I don’t know how to describe it without giving anything away). Just look down and not out the windows. The actual ride, you are moving, so unless typical moving rides make you sick, you should be fine. It’s an AMAZING ride, one of a kind and worth trying to ride!

 

[sara_s]

We don’t move from our marker until the next one is clear. That way if the group in front moved prematurely and does the backslide, we are still distanced.

That's what we did too. The people behind us were just being obnoxious.

 

[yulilin3]

For more info on RotR go to the Galaxy's edge subforum we have a spoiler free and spoiler thread. Let's not discuss details here in case someone has remained spoiler free

 

[wdw&sonny]

Does anyone think they have increased capacity since the initial reopening? What's your guess on how full are the parks (i.e. 10%, 30%, 50%)?

 

[yulilin3]

Does anyone think they have increased capacity since the initial reopening? What's your guess on how full are the parks (i.e. 10%, 30%, 50%)?

they have, we know that for sure, att least for this coming weekend, all the tiers of reservations were showing full at one point and then they were all available again. As to percentage, I'm not sure, maybe 30 to 40% of the usual amount of people this time of year NOT on maximum capacity

 

[ReginaMBK]

EPCOT on a Monday afternoon report:

Crowds: LOW! So few people. We were just in World Showcase though so I can't report on Future World, and we didn't ride anything (line for Frozen was outside and it's not worth it for us). We also came in through International Gateway, so can't comment on main entrance. Ease of entry at IG though was great. Didn't have to touch a thing, as they have the new screening tech there. There were a few places that got crowded, but it's the normal points (ie. France coming off the bridge from International Gateway side). The only booth where we waited in a line was Germany, and there were only 2 parties ahead of us. Cava del Tequila was literally empty. We were the only people in there.

Masks: Ehhhhhhh, I don't know where these reports of high 90% compliance are coming from... I would put it in the high 80% range. Lots of noses, a handful of people walking and drinking, handful of people stopping in the middle of sidewalks to take pictures with them off, ~4 people had them below the chin walking around. Good news is with the low crowds you can make sure to walk as far away from them as possible.

Misc Safety: Lots of hand sani around, but very few hand washing stations. We expected to see a lot more? Also, people will walk close to you or walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk, or come too close to you around turns. There's no reason for this. The sidewalks are huge. It's not hard to just be a little more conscientious. CMs are doing an excellent job - a big thanks to all of them!!!!

Dining: Had dinner at La Hacienda. We were one of about 5 parties. It was excellent. I have a full report on my "Scared of Indoor Dining" thread.

Shopping: Dipped into Mouse Gear and immediately regretted it. To be fair, it was right around park close. We didn't browse. I grabbed what I wanted and went right to the register, DH waited for me outside while I paid. No social distancing or respect for personal space. CMs were doing a good job though of trying to mitigate that I think.

 

[yulilin3]

EPCOT on a Monday afternoon report:

Crowds: LOW! So few people. We were just in World Showcase though so I can't report on Future World, and we didn't ride anything (line for Frozen was outside and it's not worth it for us). We also came in through International Gateway, so can't comment on main entrance. Ease of entry at IG though was great. Didn't have to touch a thing, as they have the new screening tech there. There were a few places that got crowded, but it's the normal points (ie. France coming off the bridge from International Gateway side). The only booth where we waited in a line was Germany, and there were only 2 parties ahead of us. Cava del Tequila was literally empty. We were the only people in there.

Masks: Ehhhhhhh, I don't know where these reports of high 90% compliance are coming from... I would put it in the high 80% range. Lots of noses, a handful of people walking and drinking, handful of people stopping in the middle of sidewalks to take pictures with them off, ~4 people had them below the chin walking around. Good news is with the low crowds you can make sure to walk as far away from them as possible.

Misc Safety: Lots of hand sani around, but very few hand washing stations. We expected to see a lot more? Also, people will walk close to you or walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk, or come too close to you around turns. There's no reason for this. The sidewalks are huge. It's not hard to just be a little more conscientious. CMs are doing an excellent job - a big thanks to all of them!!!!

Dining: Had dinner at La Hacienda. We were one of about 5 parties. It was excellent. I have a full report on my "Scared of Indoor Dining" thread.

Shopping: Dipped into Mouse Gear and immediately regretted it. To be fair, it was right around park close. We didn't browse. I grabbed what I wanted and went right to the register, DH waited for me outside while I paid. No social distancing or respect for personal space. CMs were doing a good job though of trying to mitigate that I think.

hand washing stations are only placed in areas where restrooms are farther away. If there isn't a hand washing station odds are a restroom is close by