Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[MinnieMSue]

O-H! I always thought it would be fun to work for OSU, what do you do if you don't mind me asking?

Yeah it was a surprise to me but it does make sense, the rollercoaster does go upside down. We had the hilts for the lightsabers in a backpack, but were carrying the blade in a box (the box is pretty long). We got pulled aside when we were near the preshow room and told to fill out a little claim check ticket, then go in the FP line, we went to someone at the photopass counter in the gift shop, checked the lightsaber with them and went back the same way.

I also hope your March trip is wonderful!

I-O!
I am a nurse at the medical center. Excited because they released our extended hours today for our week. Can’t wait to get there.

 

[Naomeri]

We made the mistake last night of thinking Epcot closed at 9... took skyliner from Riviera. Arrived and commented on the line waiting for the skyliner... proceeded to IG to find out it closed at 8. We just wanted to go to that first gift shop so they generously let us in. We were there 20 mins max... we came out & the skyliner line was past the BC pool slide... I don’t know how far it went back as we ducked into the BC lobby & took a cab back to Riviera. It has to be at least a 90 minute wait at that point.

Well, I guess that’s something to hope for

 

[e_yerger]

Hi! I’m sure these questions have been asked before, but there is a lot to look through i’m definitely a veteran, but this is my first time back post-covid. Looking for some advice on how to navigate the parks during these new times!

1. For rope dropping EPCOT or DHS from Pop, does the skyliner start running early enough? Or would you suggest taking an uber/lyft?
2. How early should we arrive at parks in order to rope drop? Before it would be leave resort ~1hr before posted opening? But some reports seem like the “rope drop” happens 1hr before posted opening time.
3. What time does the skyliner start running between Pop & Riveria (have breakfast @ topolino’s one day)?
4. How late does the skyliner run between EPCOT & Pop? Thinking about going over to EPCOT area resorts to bar hop/dinner some nights.

TIA!

 

[closetmickey]

how were they seating you on FOP? when we were these last month there was no empty Banshees between groups.

Last week we had one banshee between our party of 3 and another party of 4

 

[BillFromCT]

We made the mistake last night of thinking Epcot closed at 9... took skyliner from Riviera. Arrived and commented on the line waiting for the skyliner... proceeded to IG to find out it closed at 8. We just wanted to go to that first gift shop so they generously let us in. We were there 20 mins max... we came out & the skyliner line was past the BC pool slide... I don’t know how far it went back as we ducked into the BC lobby & took a cab back to Riviera. It has to be at least a 90 minute wait at that point.

We had a 7:00 Beaches and Cream res the other night. We made note that even though HS closed at 7:00, the skyliner was running until 9:30. After dinner we walked over to HS to take the skyliner back to CBR, rather than wait in that very long Epcot line.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Hi! I’m sure these questions have been asked before, but there is a lot to look through i’m definitely a veteran, but this is my first time back post-covid. Looking for some advice on how to navigate the parks during these new times!

1. For rope dropping EPCOT or DHS from Pop, does the skyliner start running early enough? Or would you suggest taking an uber/lyft?
2. How early should we arrive at parks in order to rope drop? Before it would be leave resort ~1hr before posted opening? But some reports seem like the “rope drop” happens 1hr before posted opening time.
3. What time does the skyliner start running between Pop & Riveria (have breakfast @ topolino’s one day)?
4. How late does the skyliner run between EPCOT & Pop? Thinking about going over to EPCOT area resorts to bar hop/dinner some nights.

TIA!

I would recommend looking at the Rope Drop thread as the first post will answer most if your questions.

The Skyliner runs for 1 hour after the last park closes.

 

[Nabas]

We made the mistake last night of thinking Epcot closed at 9... took skyliner from Riviera. Arrived and commented on the line waiting for the skyliner... proceeded to IG to find out it closed at 8. We just wanted to go to that first gift shop so they generously let us in. We were there 20 mins max... we came out & the skyliner line was past the BC pool slide... I don’t know how far it went back as we ducked into the BC lobby & took a cab back to Riviera. It has to be at least a 90 minute wait at that point.

Lines for the Skyliner are horrible for park opening and park closing! I've learned my lesson, never again!

 

[Thomasboys]

Lines for the Skyliner are horrible for park opening and park closing! I've learned my lesson, never again!

what time did you get to the skyliner, and what time was park opening for that day? We are staying at CBR in 1.5 weeks and the skyliner will be one of our main forms of transportation.

 

[terri33inne]

Lines for the Skyliner are horrible for park opening and park closing! I've learned my lesson, never again!

Left Hollywood tonight about 15 mins after park closing... line wrapped way around but it moved & we were on a skyliner in under 15 minutes. The line at Epcot last night just did not seem to be moving.

 

[WEDWDW]

Just wanted to reiterate that the long Skyliner lines are a product of Covid World Gondola limitations and will go away when Covid does.

 

[DMLAINI]

Does anyone know if you're now able to use Disney rewards cards to pay for mobile ordering

 

[GabrielMom]

Are the skyliner lines long if you leave an hour before closing? We are arriving next week for a 10 day CBR stay. We chose this resort just so we could use skyliner as transportation. But we will be there during a very busy week. Wondering if we should change resorts...

 

[disneygirlsng]

Last week we had one banshee between our party of 3 and another party of 4

That probably had some to do with your specific numbers. Since there are 8 seats in each section.

 

[fivemonkeysplus1]

Happy birthday, fellow child of March! Heading down for my birthday trip on Wednesday, I hope you left some b-day pixie dust behind

Us too. 10-17. Can NOT wait!! Working next week will be torture!!!

 

[disneyfan150]

Last week we didn't think Raglan Road or The Boathouse were following distancing guidelines. Or maybe it is just with every table full it seems like people are closer than they are. Homecomin' was also the same but we got lucky with our particular table.

I felt the same way about Boathouse and we visited last summer.

 

[MamaJessie]

Are the skyliner lines long if you leave an hour before closing? We are arriving next week for a 10 day CBR stay. We chose this resort just so we could use skyliner as transportation. But we will be there during a very busy week. Wondering if we should change resorts...

If I had to choose between waiting for a bus at park close or a skyliner I would definitely pick the skyliner - line keeps moving.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Were at MK today - definitely way more crowded than back in Sept but the waits were still very manageable. I think the longest wait we had in reality was 35-40 mins for Space (posted 50) because we hit a cleaning cycle. We skipped Splash bc the posted wait was 80 mins but we did BTMRR x2 and 7DMT x2 instead (and HM x3 lol). Even took a “break” to change and have dinner at Sanaa which was phenomenal. We saw giraffes! Thrilling!

Tomorrow is 1 of 2 HS days - alarm is set for 6:55 to get a BG and we plan to be at the GF bus no later than 7:45. Wish us luck!

 

[closetmickey]

If I had to choose between waiting for a bus at park close or a skyliner I would definitely pick the skyliner - line keeps moving.

Agree. And there is no mystery as to when it will arrive.

 

[FinallyFL]

Does anyone know if you're now able to use Disney rewards cards to pay for mobile ordering

Yes, but the app won't save the number of your rewards card for future orders. You can save the number in a note app and then cut/paste it into the the WDW app if you don't want to retype it each time.

 

[DisneyJade]

How to Have a Successful Day at DHS

Tuesday March 2
DHS 9-7

First of all, this was my birthday. I was super excited to wear my birthday pin.

6: up and at 'em. Headed for the parks around 6:30ish

6:55: pulled over at Fantastia Mini Golf parking lot so we could both try for a Rise boarding group. We had a friend joining us for the day and he was also trying. I didn't have any fancy countdown clocks, I just started refreshing the page at 6:59.

And, as Kuzco would say: Boom baby.

What can I say? It was my special day.

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7:10: breakfast ADR at Ale & Compass at Yacht Club. Had the eggs benedict special and it was soooo good. We asked for our check when the food arrived and we were out of there at 7:45

7:45: walked to DHS. It was a beautiful morning.

8:05: arrived at DHS and were in line for the temp checks. Maybe about 15 groups back?

8:15: temp checks started, the line moved quickly past the temp checks, through security and into the gates.

8:22: into line for MMRR. I believe we were on the second train of the day.

8:32: off the ride and onto Toy Story Land

8:39: line for Slinky Dog Dash

8:52: rode SDD

8:57: walked onto Swirling Saucers

9:09: into line for TSMM

9:25: off the ride

We had until 9:50 to make it to Rise. We decided it was a more valuable use of our time to knock out a few rides with short waits and show up to Rise at the end of our boarding time.

9:37: met up with our friend and got in line for ROTR. It was our first time riding.

10:02: off the ride, loved it. Won't say more since we managed to stay mostly spoiler free and I don't want to ruin it for anyone else.

Felt like we had already had a super successful morning. Had a delicious breakfast, already did MMRR, TSMM, SDD, Saucers and ROTR. And the park had only officially been open for an hour.

10:08: mobile ordered a drink from Ronto Roasters so we could sit with our friend who had breakfast there. Watched Chewie interact with the crowd from on top of a building.

10:26: we weren't going to stop into Dok Ondar's because we had just been there the previous night, but our friend wanted to go in. The force was with us because they'd just got Ahsoka's lightsabers in stock overnight! Talk about lucky. I

10:40: expensive birthday gift to myself in hand, we watched some Stormtroopers and Vi Moradi on top of the same building Chewie had just been on.

We also watched Rey have a very serious conversation from up high with a little girl.

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11:10: in line for Rockin Rollercoaster. Fun fact: you have to check your lightsaber blades on that ride. They send you through to the gift shop then back in line. We did get front of the coaster though, so maybe it was worth it.

11:34: rode RR

I wanted to ride TT but it was listed as an 85 minute wait. It was getting very hot at this point so we mobile ordered some drinks at the Backlot Express and had a nice sit down break.

I also have a gap in my pictures here, I think my phone died and I was charging it. All my time stamps are based off pictures I took. After we finished relaxing in Backlot Express we rode Star Tours. I think we had a 15-20 minute wait. We got all the new scenes from Last Skywalker which I was excited about as we'd never seen them.

1:20ish?: got in line for Muppets and had to wait a decently long time.

1:50: in the Muppets theater. They must have got a new digital projector since the last time I saw this show (probably several years). The picture looked super crisp.

2:08: we headed to Sci Fi Dine In. I had a reservation for 2:20. We also had 3 other friends join us at this point (they hopped over). This is my absolute favorite restaurant at Disney. The food isn't bad but I love the ambience. It started to pour right before 2:20, we asked if we could wait inside but were told no. So we huddled under 3 umbrellas and waited it out. I think the rain only lasted 5-10 minutes.

2:32: seated in Sci Fi.

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Two of us had birthdays on March 2, and a third had a birthday on March 4. We all 3 got cupcakes at the end of the meal.

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4:04: decided to ride MMRR and got pulled out of line the second we entered due to the birthday buttons. Got backdoored onto the ride.

4:30: into line for Smuggler's Run. We had a full 6 person crew and we were going to live it up.

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4:54: first ride. We did ok but didn't achieve our objective.

4:56: back in line for Smuggler's.

I don't have time stamps for this ride, but we were definitely off the ride by 5:45.

On our second ride we achieved great success: we got Chewie mode and we finally kept all 3 lights on! Which basically means you scored very highly.

We shopped around in Droid Depot for a bit.

5:56: in line for TSMM

6:32: my time stamps failed again, but we had obviously ridden TSMM at this point and were just boarding SDD.

The sun was setting and we made our way out of Toy Story Land.

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We shopped around a bit and took some photopass pictures. Earlier in the day (like 7:15 am), our friend had snagged us all an Oga's for 7 pm for 6 people.

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Nothing better than a park reservation right at close on an early closing hour.

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6:59: Oga's reservation.

Also, miracle of miracles: we got a booth!!! Getting a booth at Oga's is like finding the Holy Grail. It was interesting seeing the place so empty. This was our first post COVID visit. Looked like the filled all the booths and had a few couples scattered around the bar and only a few standing tables occupied.

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7:54: Oga's was not enforcing a two drink minimum. We definitely didn't feel rushed but ended up leaving right before 8 anyway. There were still other groups left when we headed out.

We made our way slowly out of the park and were at the exit at 8:06. Love this pic I took of Sci Fi on the way out.

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We took the Skyliner back to Yacht club and had no wait.

All in all, was a pretty spectacular day. I know some of it was luck, but we'd managed to do:

MMRR x2
SDD x 2
Saucers
TSMM x 2
ROTR Boarding Group 1
ST
Muppets
RR
Smugglers x 2

Really the only thing we missed that I wanted to do was TT. It had a very long wait all day. We probably could have done it instead of our second evening visit to Toy Story Land, but those rides were fun anyway and a lot closer to our park close Oga's than TT would have been.

A lot of the lines looked really long, or were marked as long on MDE, but they really weren't that bad. I highly recommend paying for the Touring Lines app, those wait times were much, much more accurate than the ones on MDE.

Hope this helped!

wow, what a successful day! You did much better than we did. The day before your visit, we were in line for MMRR at the same time as you but only got one other ride in before 9:00 am (TSMM). The whole day seemed to go like that with us falling farther and farther behind. Glad you had better luck!