Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[GBRforWDW]

The entertainment is only in America, Canada, and inside the festival showplace or whatever it’s called. So even though there’s multiple groups, it’s not spread out across nearly the entire world showcase like usual, giving energy to multiple pavilions.

Epcot also has quite a few characters, relatively speaking- Alice and Mary Poppins rotate in the U.K., Pooh and Joy rotate in front of Imagination, seen reports of Elsa/Anna on a balcony or something in Norway, plus the calvacades.

We also saw Chip and Dale in front of imagination.

 

[Sarahslay]

I think (at least from my experience anyway) that “hot half second” duration of patience stems from not wanting a line or crowd to build behind you while waiting for the sanitizer to flow. I noticed this quite a bit when we were there over NYE. The machines are actually quite slow to dispense and if every person waited I feel that there would be a large back up into the ride exit in many cases plus exiting is a place that I feel was a social distancing weakness. Grateful for the protocols and availability of the sanitizer but due to this we started to use our own.

Oh, I know, I’ve been several times since opening I just was making a comment of how this is normal. BUT also seeing some of the people there doing the “it’s empty!” When it’s not can lead to word of mouth getting out that Disney doesn’t even fill the dispensers. I take my own because I hate that sanitizer, but I have used it on occasion, and know they’re slow to react. Glad it’s there for people who don’t have their own though, people just need to put on their patient pants with them.

 

[Victoria3]

i suppose i timed my walk poorly. to me the place fell flat compared to what you get at all the other parks and Springs. especially adding in the construction in the first half of the park.

i've done epcot when it's jumping and alive. it can be great. but walking through china/germany etc with nothing happening is a drag (IMO). i would suggest to others to just do a second day at MK/AK/HS, or spend a day in Springs sampling food and drinks for a more worthwhile experience. just my $.02

The showtimes are in the MDE app.

 

[gatorlisa]

mask compliance definitely not as great here compared to MK. LOTS of walking and snacking/drinking including in lines and never saw a CM correct anyone.

It's so interesting to me how different our perceptions can be. We did HS and Epcot on Thursday, MK on Friday. I found mask compliance to be lower at MK than the Thursday parks. So many masks below noses, people walking and eating/drinking, and people taking their masks off to talk on the phone. But at HS and Epcot I noticed very little of any of that. And I was looking for it pretty equally both days. To be clear, I'm not suggesting you are wrong, I just find it really interesting how differently people can perceive things.

Magic Kingdom on a Friday afternoon... not so great. Wait times/crowds were rough but my plan was to do a MK resort shopping tour so we stuck with that. Heading back to the park around 4pm.

I don't see too many people posting about waits & crowds being rough. Most seem to be going on about how posted wait times are inflated etc. How were the days prior to Friday?

We started our day Friday at MK. It started off great. We were on the first ferry over and it was probably less than 15% full. Walking through Frontierland it was like nobody was there. We got so much done in the first couple of hours. But after lunch, things went downhill. Thunder Mountain was down for long stretches all day long and then SDMT went down for an extended period of time. Two major rides down will have an impact. We saw based on wait times that AK looked much more pleasant, so we hopped over there, getting there at like 3:00 and riding FoP with less than 25 minute waits each time. Decided to just call it a day early after that. So glad park hopping has returned.

 

[NashvilleMama]

Hmm, my 13 yo actually just said to me the other day he was excited for Epcot for our early April trip

where in the past he always hated Epcot
Guess he’s old enough now to appreciate it

but hearing some of these posts, I’m wondering if we should skip it and just do two days at HS

I would still go if he's excited about it. I was there Friday with my almost-11 year old and she loved it...granted we only did a half day and it was definitely enough. But Test Track, Soarin, Spaceship Earth (twice), Living on the Land (also twice. I don't know why but it's her favorite.), Nemo / manatee watching, and Figment weirdness were great for her.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Interested in how other's thoughts may line up with this: What do you feel each park misses the most currently of things that Disney is not offering? Which park do you think feels least normal and most normal. I think it would be interesting to see people's observations and how our thoughts line up, or differ.

Epcot: Characters - For us it most missed Characters. I also think others will cite impromptu entertainment, but that's not typically why we go there. Epcot also felt the "least normal" to us BUT all of the construction walls certainly contributed to that.

Animal Kingdom: Shows - No FotLK and Nemo was a big blow! Between getting there early to ensure we got a seat, the show's length, and then leaving the theaters, I'd say this was over 21/2 hours of our day that was not occupied. We also missed characters here as well but shows were our #1.

Magic Kingdom: Night-time Entertainment - Seeing the hub mostly empty as the sun went down was just odd. We always would pick a day and grab "our spot" for fireworks 3 hours in advance, then I'd take the girls to ride something, my wife would take them to meet a character, we'd grab some ice cream, then some popcorn and enjoy waiting for HEA. Magic Kingdom also missed characters and we missed the ability to grab a snack and walk and eat (we snacked VERY little this trip as a result). But HEA (and in a broader category sense "Night-time Entertainment") was our #1.

Hollywood Studios: Fastpass - I'll say this because we simply don't do standby lines. And when crowd levels rose in the afternoon, we just cut out for a break and I never did RnRC or ToT. I just didn't want to deal with the lines. Since we don't all ride those rides, it was easier to not do them than split up. With a FP in hand it meant they were a very brief distraction in the past from our day. AND my wife would take one or both of the girls to see a character while I did that... and of course that wasn't an option this time. Honestly, Hollywood Studios felt the "most normal" to us though. We enjoyed our day there. I could easily have said it missed characters, or night-time entertainment, or snacks most. But I'll go with Fastpass just to say something different than the other parks.

This thread was VERY helpful leading up to our trip and I hope that people continue to contribute great info here. I won't weigh in on the whole "how safe is Disney" debate because unless our views are 100% aligned my assessment pretty much means nothing to anybody else. But I do love the aspect of understanding how the parks are best toured currently, and how missing elements detract from the experience, it helped us to set our expectations realistically and make the best of Pandemic Disney.

 

[mdsouth]

Interested in how other's thoughts may line up with this: What do you feel each park misses the most currently of things that Disney is not offering? Which park do you think feels least normal and most normal. I think it would be interesting to see people's observations and how our thoughts line up, or differ.

This thread was VERY helpful leading up to our trip and I hope that people continue to contribute great info here. I won't weigh in on the whole "how safe is Disney" debate because unless our views are 100% aligned my assessment pretty much means nothing to anybody else. But I do love the aspect of understanding how the parks are best toured currently, and how missing elements detract from the experience, it helped us to set our expectations realistically and make the best of Pandemic Disney.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I am considering a trip this summer, I had to postpone my June 2020 one and have not been there since 2014. I really was looking forward to my trip last summer and then we cancelled it due to Covid. So, I really want to go back but am unsure if I should just wait another year or not. If you can believe it, I have never seen the Lion King show in AK and we really want to see it. It was closed one time and the other time, we just missed it, not knowing about it ahead of time and how to plan for it. My daughter's school did the Lion King Jr. musical and she was in it so that is something we really wanted to do. I was also wanting to go when the new Remy ride is open since that is her favorite movie. But it has been delayed. I wonder if it will be open in the summer?
Anyway, I appreciate reading about everyone's experiences as I try to figure out if this summer is the best time for us to go or not.

 

[PrincessV]

Interested in how other's thoughts may line up with this: What do you feel each park misses the most currently of things that Disney is not offering? Which park do you think feels least normal and most normal. I think it would be interesting to see people's observations and how our thoughts line up, or differ.

For me, it's really not park-specific. I'm not into shows or characters, so I'm not missing them. I won't ride anything with a tight, confined space right now, so not having FOP, ST, M:S in my AK, DHS and EP days is abnormal. Not having FPs and not needing a touring plan is abnormal compared to recent years, but feels just like it used to before the advent of FP: no FP actually feels more "normal" to me than the years of FP did - that's at every park. Not PHing until recently felt weird. The biggest abnormality for me has been the early nights: I'm used to heading to parks later in the day and doing dinners and evenings in the parks. Now, I'm doing late mornings and afternoons.

 

[jenmsmith]

Interested in how other's thoughts may line up with this: What do you feel each park misses the most currently of things that Disney is not offering? Which park do you think feels least normal and most normal. I think it would be interesting to see people's observations and how our thoughts line up, or differ.

Epcot: Characters - For us it most missed Characters. I also think others will cite impromptu entertainment, but that's not typically why we go there. Epcot also felt the "least normal" to us BUT all of the construction walls certainly contributed to that.

Animal Kingdom: Shows - No FotLK and Nemo was a big blow! Between getting their early to ensure we got a seat, the show's length, and then leaving the theaters, I'd say this was over 21/2 hours of our day that was not occupied. We also missed characters here as well but shows were our #1.

Magic Kingdom: Night-time Entertainment - Seeing the hub mostly empty as the sun went down was just odd. We always would pick a day and grab "our spot" for fireworks 3 hours in advance, then I'd take the girls to ride something, my wife would take them to meet a character, we'd grab some ice cream, then some popcorn and enjoy waiting for HEA. Magic Kingdom also missed characters and we missed the ability to grab a snack and walk and eat (we snacked VERY little this trip as a result). But HEA (and in a broader category sense "Night-time Entertainment") was our #1.

Hollywood Studios: Fastpass - I'll say this because we simply don't do standby lines. And when crowd levels rose in the afternoon, we just cut out for a break and I never did RnRC or ToT. I just didn't want to deal with the lines. Since we don't all ride those rides, it was easier to not do them than split up. With a FP in hand it meant they were a very brief distraction in the past from our day. AND my wife would take one or both of the girls to see a character while I did that... and of course that wasn't an option this time. Honestly, Hollywood Studios felt the "most normal" to us though. We enjoyed our day there. I could easily have said it missed characters, or night-time entertainment, or snacks most. But I'll go with Fastpass just to say something different than the other parks.

This thread was VERY helpful leading up to our trip and I hope that people continue to contribute great info here. I won't weigh in on the whole "how safe is Disney" debate because unless our views are 100% aligned my assessment pretty much means nothing to anybody else. But I do love the aspect of understanding how the parks are best toured currently, and how missing elements detract from the experience, it helped us to set our expectations realistically and make the best of Pandemic Disney.

I missed the shows and later nights and entertainment. But I also really missed the international cast members. I still loved Epcot and we went multiple days on our trip (we were adults only and enjoy Festival of the Arts). It was jarring, though, to be in the world showcase and have very little authentic interaction with cast members of that country. I hope it’s safe to bring the International Cast Member program back soon.

 

[sethschroeder]

Hmm, my 13 yo actually just said to me the other day he was excited for Epcot for our early April trip

where in the past he always hated Epcot
Guess he’s old enough now to appreciate it

but hearing some of these posts, I’m wondering if we should skip it and just do two days at HS

Epcot is the most full experience out of every park at WDW right now imo.

People like to complain about Epcot because there is construction but basically the only thing closed is some shops that are gone forever because they are redoing the hub area.

I would say Epcot is best done with a Park Hopper in the afternoon/evening simply because its easier to get through rides with lower waits even in the evening.

adding in the construction in the first half of the park.

Except its not half the park its basically the central hub where none of the attractions or entertainment was anyways unless you sat and watched the fountain in the past. The actual areas of Epcot are all open and even the entrance is all unveiled now.

 

[sethschroeder]

Living on the Land (also twice. I don't know why but it's her favorite.)

Because its the best ride

Since they removed Maelstrom its Living with the Land #1 and Figment #2.

But I also really missed the international cast members.

I would say this is the biggest missing piece of Epcot right now. Hope they can return in 2022 but don't expect them back this year.

 

[sethschroeder]

My biggest suggestion to anyone planning on going soon is get to the bus stop early, get on the first bus of the day, blow through the big rides on your list, and then relax the remainder of the day.

 

[SeanWM48]

Interested in how other's thoughts may line up with this: What do you feel each park misses the most currently of things that Disney is not offering? Which park do you think feels least normal and most normal. I think it would be interesting to see people's observations and how our thoughts line up, or differ.

Epcot: I know I've been rebutted a couple times above but I found the construction to be an issue and felt the lack of entertainment/authenticity in the countries. I've been to Epcot and liked it in the past and once things rebound I'd give it another shot don't get me wrong. Going there after seeing HS and all the new additions, Epcot just felt burnt out and kinda quiet and not on par. Just being honest here.

Animal Kingdom: Agreed on shows although we replaced the time spent on Fest of LK doing other things I'd never done before. Example I'd never sat and watched the live bird show (outdoor theater) and it was fantastic. This would actually be my pick for most 'normal'

Magic Kingdom: Night time entertainment 100% agreed. Lack of parades I was fine with and the smaller spontaneous ones were cool. I missed the late night energy MK had in the past.

Hollywood Studios: Fast Pass is a good pick although my rebuttal would be that the lines for some of the newer rides are entertaining enough where 30-40 minutes (which was as long as they got for us this week) doesn't feel as bad as it used to. Example the que around the Millennium Falcon for Smuggler's. Felt same about the Pandora lines at AK; the land is interesting enough where you don't mind spending 20 minutes in line.

 

[gatorlisa]

Interested in how other's thoughts may line up with this: What do you feel each park misses the most currently of things that Disney is not offering? Which park do you think feels least normal and most normal. I think it would be interesting to see people's observations and how our thoughts line up, or differ.

Epcot: for us, not a lot is missing other than just the annoyance of all the construction. I guess if I had to pick something I'd say TT single rider. But we are mostly Future World people and in the past would begin a day at Epcot with FPs at whatever park we hopped to in the afternoon, so not a lot is different. But, I can see for those who are big into the World Showcase, festivals, interacting with international CMs, it is going to feel significantly lacking.

MK: Fastpasses, longer hours, and to a lesser degree, characters. Horrible to many, I know, but we don't really do the fireworks so I don't even really notice if they don't happen. I do still miss the Main Street Electrical Parade so very much, but that was gone long before COVID.

HS: Shows! I know it's 30 years old, but I still love the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. But beyond that, the Indy show and Beauty and the Beast are also people eaters, taking a fair bit of load off of the rides. More than anything else, that's what this park is missing in my opinion. It's also missing the streetmosphere (or however you spell that...the street performers on Sunset). There's nothing to pause for as you make your way to ToT or RnR. I haven't found the lack of FP to be an issue here. No issues riding Mickey and Minnie or Slinky Dog. We just got back and in our 3 days at HS found wait times to be anywhere from 30-50% lower than posted for all but Tower of Terror (which is pretty accurate with what was posted).

AK: Haven't spent a ton of time at this park and it's my least favorite park anyway. I think it's tough not having Festival of the Lion King and Nemo playing. Other than that, I haven't noticed a whole lot of difference.

 

[disneygirlsng]

The only two things that I regularly do that were not available on my trip in August were FotLK and HEA. FPs were not needed at that time as everything was a walk on, so that trip felt very normal for me.

 

[Pixie Dust x3]

We just returned from four days in the parks January 27-30, 2021. We are Californians who love Disneyland but had never been to Disneyworld. We went to celebrate my daughter's 21st birthday, and I read this thread regularly to prepare. I can say that from the Magical Express to the Yacht Club to the parks, we were impressed with Disney's planning around Covid and the mask compliance. Distancing was mostly good, but there were pinch points and a few attractions that felt a little tight. Since we had never been we weren't comparing it to a typical, robust park day -- we were just happy to be there! It did feel plenty crowded to me (though not overly so) and we remarked often that we didn't know if we would enjoy the parks at full capacity or with a lot of heat and humidity. We had mostly pleasant weather so wearing masks all day did not feel burdensome. It was very strange to eat indoors but we appreciated the distancing that was enforced. It was surprisingly liberating not to be tied to FP! We found that the wait for nearly every ride was less (sometimes half) of what was posted -- FoP said 45 minutes, was 25, etc.
Favorites: Drinking around the world at Epcot, Animal Kingdom (especially Pandora), RotR, RnRC, EE, Cinderella's castle, Be Our Guest (and exiting the park more than an hour after closing and having Main Street to ourselves for a moment)
Meh: MK (sorry, we kept comparing to our og love, Disneyland), TT, merchandise at the Emporium.

 

[SL6827]

Report for 1/29- Hollywood Studios

We used the Speedway drop off point on this day and it worked wonderfully. We were in the first say 15-20 people in line. We got up and out the door early. Got an Uber to drop us off there around 7:40. Got some food there and started our walk. We were let in around 8:15 I think. Got two rides in on SDD before the big lines hit for it. Rode the other new ride there, not a fan though. We did not care about SWLand at all so no report there.

We ate at Woodys Lunch Box around 11:15. Wasn't that great, but it was cute. We did do MMRR around 12:30. The wait time posted was 45 minutes. I timed it out to 30 minutes. HS was crowded as I expected but we got in our TSL time and the ride on MMRR. We left around 1:30 on the Skyliner. Very good day and glad we started out very early with the Speedway drop off.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Report for 1/29- Hollywood Studios

We used the Speedway drop off point on this day and it worked wonderfully. We were in the first say 15-20 people in line. We got up and out the door early. Got an Uber to drop us off there around 7:40. Got some food there and started our walk. We were let in around 8:15 I think. Got two rides in on SDD before the big lines hit for it. Rode the other new ride there, not a fan though. We did not care about SWLand at all so no report there.

We ate at Woodys Lunch Box around 11:15. Wasn't that great, but it was cute. We did do MMRR around 12:30. The wait time posted was 45 minutes. I timed it out to 30 minutes. HS was crowded as I expected but we got in our TSL time and the ride on MMRR. We left around 1:30 on the Skyliner. Very good day and glad we started out very early with the Speedway drop off.

Is it possible to uber to Swan/Dolphin or is Speedway closer?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Is it possible to uber to Swan/Dolphin or is Speedway closer?

I’ve been wondering why Swan hasn’t been floated more here. Would they even think twice about somebody getting dropped off by an Uber to meet a friend?

 

[SL6827]

Is it possible to uber to Swan/Dolphin or is Speedway closer?

I don't think they will let you into the Swan/Dolphin. I think the Speedway is closer.