Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[yulilin3]

When the parks open early, are they just permitting guests to go inside and then you have to wait for the respective rides to open? Or are the rides typically open when a park opens early, such as when Epcot is opening at 10:15 when the stated time is 11? Trying to gauge what time we should be arriving at each park.

It depends.
Once the parking lot open the park opens. Meaning there's no waiting to enter the park.
From what I've seen and experienced ive walked on rides at mk before 9am, epcot had to wait until 11am, dhs sometimes the rides are open before 10am sometimes they wait. Ak walked on to Safari at around 7:55

 

[armerida]

The quick service at Mexico, Morocco and the bakery in France are open

Omg please tell me Choza de Margarita is open too! My first stop at Epcot will be a margarita and tostada from there!

 

[yulilin3]

Omg please tell me Choza de Margarita is open too! My first stop at Epcot will be a margarita and tostada from there!

Sorry, did not see it open. Im going tonight and I'll look to make sure
Cava was open

 

[Spazz2k]

Ok so stupid question, but can a park reservation be made on the fly? We may go stay onsite this weekend, and may do a park, so is it possible to wake up and if available, make a reservation for MK? Or do they need to be made before the actual day you plan to go?

 

[yulilin3]

Ok so stupid question, but can a park reservation be made on the fly? We may go stay onsite this weekend, and may do a park, so is it possible to wake up and if available, make a reservation for MK? Or do they need to be made before the actual day you plan to go?

You can make it same day, obviously check your ticket group to see if spots are available. For example I'm a local ap, can't go to dhs until September unless a slot opens up. On site resort guests have clear availability right now

 

[Skili9111]

Are people wearing masks on the pool decks? I remember reading that pool CM’s were telling people they didn’t have to once in pool area...

We just returned from AKL and stayed at Jambo House. For the most part no one wore them on the pool decks, but there were so few people at that pool that there was a ton of space between loungers. The only exception was we saw a young couple who was double masked, with a cloth mask over a surgical mask, and they wore theirs into the pool.

 

[Chris Ehlers]

Anytime from 9 to 9:15

Thank you as always @yulilin3 for all your information

 

[nkereina]

It depends.
Once the parking lot open the park opens. Meaning there's no waiting to enter the park.
From what I've seen and experienced ive walked on rides at mk before 9am, epcot had to wait until 11am, dhs sometimes the rides are open before 10am sometimes they wait. Ak walked on to Safari at around 7:55

Got it, thanks. Generally speaking, what time have the parking lots been opening up?

 

[yulilin3]

Got it, thanks. Generally speaking, what time have the parking lots been opening up?

around 45 minutes before park opening

 

[Doingitagain]

I heard that they were only letting guests staying at that specific resort into the resort (unless you have an ADR).

This is what came out from DVC, probably in response to people complaining about lack of QS at some resorts:
Members and Guests staying at a Disney Resort may travel between select resorts for dining, shopping and recreation activities. However, only Members and Guests with reservations at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, and Disney's Yacht Club Resort will be allowed access to the resort. Please note, pool hopping is still not available at any resort.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I heard that they were only letting guests staying at that specific resort into the resort (unless you have an ADR).

If you take Disney transportation it's fine. If you drive up, you need to have a reservation.

 

[upbeatred]

I spent five days in the parks and just got back home on Monday. Besides Hollywood Studios, I felt like mask enforcement and cleaning were excellent. We did not go to Disney Springs at all, and ate all our meals outside. I was just dying to go on this trip, I think I thought once I went to Disney all my COVID issues would be resolved. Or maybe it was just that it would be such a break from the boring, stay at home, stressful life that we all deal with due to this pandemic. Well the parks were pretty empty and it was nice, but the atmosphere is different and COVID is always present and in your mind. It was especially true at EPCOT because it just lacked any charm. How can you really enjoy a food and wine festival, when you are worried about clean hands, masks, and super hot weather? In addition, there is not really any live entertainment. It just felt kind of sad. We took every precaution that we could, but now I am home and every day I'm thinking do I have COVID? Was this trip really worth the risk? I guess only time will tell, but if you are planning to go in the near future just know that in my opinion the lack of lines did not make up for just the general happy, high you get at Disney.

 

[yulilin3]

I spent five days in the parks and just got back home on Monday. Besides Hollywood Studios, I felt like mask enforcement and cleaning were excellent. We did not go to Disney Springs at all, and ate all our meals outside. I was just dying to go on this trip, I think I thought once I went to Disney all my COVID issues would be resolved. Or maybe it was just that it would be such a break from the boring, stay at home, stressful life that we all deal with due to this pandemic. Well the parks were pretty empty and it was nice, but the atmosphere is different and COVID is always present and in your mind. It was especially true at EPCOT because it just lacked any charm. How can you really enjoy a food and wine festival, when you are worried about clean hands, masks, and super hot weather? In addition, there is not really any live entertainment. It just felt kind of sad. We took every precaution that we could, but now I am home and every day I'm thinking do I have COVID? Was this trip really worth the risk? I guess only time will tell, but if you are planning to go in the near future just know that in my opinion the lack of lines did not make up for just the general happy, high you get at Disney.

Merged you to the existing thread
Thanks for your thoughts

 

[cdobert]

We just got back from a 10 day stay. We had a good time and thought Disney did a good job overall. Our biggest problems were at the airports - people were not wearing masks, even in the trains. Only complaint against Disney is that I couldn't upgrade to an annual pass. It was my plan to do so and it bugged me that I couldn't especially when the discounts dropped for merchandise and rooms.

 

[leeniewdw]

I Well the parks were pretty empty and it was nice, but the atmosphere is different and COVID is always present and in your mind. It was especially true at EPCOT because it just lacked any charm. How can you really enjoy a food and wine festival, when you are worried about clean hands, masks, and super hot weather? In addition, there is not really any live entertainment. It just felt kind of sad. We took every precaution that we could, but now I am home and every day I'm thinking do I have COVID? Was this trip really worth the risk? I guess only time will tell, but if you are planning to go in the near future just know that in my opinion the lack of lines did not make up for just the general happy, high you get at Disney.

Thanks for your post. I was curious if the new "precautions" would change the feeling as compared to me when visiting in March (12-14). I found the bus (which they packed in, which surprised me) and the Flower & Garden fest the hardest to detach myself from the current environment.

I suspect personality as much to do with how you handle/experience WDW "in this time". We were just talking about it last night and my spouse recalled how he was just not as concerned about going (I had a lot of trepidation the night before we left). He did become much more concerned about a week after week got back (in a general sense). We both said we have no inclination to go back to WDW in 2020 or 2021 at this point (we had planned to bring our grown kids and their significant others this fall or spring 2021).

Anyway, that's one of the things I think is important about traveling to WDW these days....the feeling of the whole party. The entire party should understand the changes, expectations, precautions, etc...that will be in place for the trip. The night before we left when I was semi-freaking out, we altered some plans (we wouldn't be doing any Rope Drops, would stick mostly to our FPs, cancel our reservation for Oga's and we rented a car so we didn't have to ride the ME and have other transport options). We had a whole system of cleaning things when we returned to our room etc and it would have created tension if my spouse expressed any "this is unnecessary" kind of thoughts. My "routine" made me feel like I had some control about the situation. We also flew home a day early after WDW announced (on our first night) the eminent closing 3 days later.

Good luck in your post WDW 2 weeks. I admit I took my temp a number of times and kind of kept a log of how I was feeling. I also tried to treat my anxiety with walks/stretching/meditation. I think most of us had peak anxiety in March and having the WDW trip on top of it

 

[WEDWDW]

I spent five days in the parks and just got back home on Monday. Besides Hollywood Studios, I felt like mask enforcement and cleaning were excellent. We did not go to Disney Springs at all, and ate all our meals outside. I was just dying to go on this trip, I think I thought once I went to Disney all my COVID issues would be resolved. Or maybe it was just that it would be such a break from the boring, stay at home, stressful life that we all deal with due to this pandemic. Well the parks were pretty empty and it was nice, but the atmosphere is different and COVID is always present and in your mind. It was especially true at EPCOT because it just lacked any charm. How can you really enjoy a food and wine festival, when you are worried about clean hands, masks, and super hot weather? In addition, there is not really any live entertainment. It just felt kind of sad. We took every precaution that we could, but now I am home and every day I'm thinking do I have COVID? Was this trip really worth the risk? I guess only time will tell, but if you are planning to go in the near future just know that in my opinion the lack of lines did not make up for just the general happy, high you get at Disney.

Thank you so much for sharing this.

Your report definitely makes me feel not quite as sad for having to cancel our July 11-17 trip.

 

[upbeatred]

This is what came out from DVC, probably in response to people complaining about lack of QS at some resorts:
Members and Guests staying at a Disney Resort may travel between select resorts for dining, shopping and recreation activities. However, only Members and Guests with reservations at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, and Disney's Yacht Club Resort will be allowed access to the resort. Please note, pool hopping is still not available at any resort.

We went to Boardwalk one night and we had a reservation at Trattoria, they actually scanned our band and they would not let the car in front of us in. I heard him say he was a DVC member and owner at Boardwalk, and they said no. We also tried to look around Fort Wilderness because we are getting a RV. It was a no go. They would not let us in.

 

[crazymomof4]

We had to fly through Atlanta recently and that was pretty bad too. A lot of people not complying and taking the mask down to talk. We decided to just be overly cautious and wear N95s the whole time, only taking the, down to eat quick. Flying felt safe in general and with the N95 I was less concerned. But it’s good to know MCO isn’t great. We’ll try to bolt through as fast as possible when we land.

Thx to all here posting their experiences. It's helping me mentally prepare for our Sept. Trip.
We also plan on wearing N95s in airports and on planes. Some sort of eye covering as well.

 

[Budzooka]

Just wrapping first day at HS and it has been great. I haven’t seen anyone not wearing a mask and me wearing a mask in the heat hasn’t bothered me near as bad as I expected. I know it helps it was overcast a good chunk of the day, but the sun came out this afternoon after a good shower right after lunch.

Lots of distancing and hand sanitizer. I wasn’t worried about visiting and haven’t seen anything to make me feel differently.

Most of the rides have been walkons with the exception of MMRR and Tower of Terror. We waited and did MMRR late and it was only a 20 min wait and I don’t know why TOT has been a 45+ min wait all day. We just walked on to Slinky Dog and waited for about 15 min earlier in the afternoon.

We did not get here at park opening but got ROR boarding passes at 1pm. First time to ride and it was a cool experience. I’m not a big Star Wars guy, but can appreciate the attention to detail.

I do miss the live shows. We love the rides and the short waits, but enjoy taking a break and watching a good show as well. Lots of concession stands and shops are closed.

We are headed to MK tomorrow and all reports are the crowds should be lower there than HS. If this is as bad as it gets, it hasn’t been bad at all.

 

[soniam]

Omg please tell me Choza de Margarita is open too! My first stop at Epcot will be a margarita and tostada from there!

Choza was open last week, as well as La Cava.