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Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

kylenne said:
Yesterday part 2:

I took the monorail back to MK around 6pm. It started raining while en route so I went to the Tiki Room, then walked on to Haunted Mansion, and by the time I got out it had stopped. Buzz was posted 10 minutes at about 7p but was a walk on—I can’t emphasize enough during the evenings especially posted waits are inflated. Even the Lines app overestimated times (I can’t for the life of me figure out how to submit them). Everything outside of the E tickets looked like a walk on. But I was mostly getting photopass shots because I had changed into my Tiana outfit from Unique Vintage. I walked on to the People Mover twice though.

Had an ADR for 8:25 at CRT so did that. The food was shockingly good, definitely better than BOG the night before and markedly better than the “decent” the first time I ate there with my gf in 2018. Cinderella is still the only princess there and comes out to wave but what I didn’t realize is she actually does interact with tables, albeit at a distance. She stopped by my table twice and wished me a happy birthday among treating me like a fellow princess, lol. (I was wearing a literal tiara) If you’re on the fence I still think it’s worth it.

I left the castle well after official park close and got some wonderful photos—a late ADR is great for this, as the park was virtually empty by then. But I discovered the resort monorail wasn’t running and I was too tired to walk home. A transportation CM came over and asked where I was headed, I said GF and there was a resort launch sitting at the dock that he radioed to and he directed me to it, and said the captain would take care of me. So I had my very own personal boat back to GF! He roped up the line behind me so it was the last of the night, this was 10:30 or so. Moral of the story is don’t worry if you leave the park super late, they will always help you get home.

An amazing, magical birthday was had. Today is a resort day for me.
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It took me a bit to figure out how to post a time on the Lines app. You need to tap on the green square in the upper left corner of the attraction to add a time.
 
Just got back from a week at the parks. This was our 4th pandemic visit and definitely the busiest, but until holiday weekend crowds arrived it felt very much like a normal May crowd (ie not bad at all). We timed this trip around our youngest niece's school year, but she ended up unable to go anyway. I was reminded why we never go this late in May! The heat was CRAZY but at least we didn't have summer humidity yet.

We took my dad and step-mom (70s) and my nephew and his wife (20s). Stayed at AKV Kidani in a two bedroom (that third bathroom is a life saver with six adults getting ready!). They flew in from Missouri and we flew in from Utah late Saturday, stayed near the airport and headed to the parks in our rental van on Sunday morning about 9am. We did MK on Sunday, Epcot on Monday, AK on Tuesday, Studios on Wednesday and Thursday and I got us RotR passes BOTH days (groups 16 and 7, respectively).

Most days we were done by 2 or 3pm and spent time at the Kidani pool bar in the afternoon before dinner. We used mobile order for QS for lunches and pick-up times were usually available right away. We had two dinner reservations at DS and ended up canceling the second after our first visit there. It was insanely crowded, as it has been every trip since they reopened. Our third was at Shula's, which was easy with their validated valet parking for dining.

We hopped on Thursday to the Wave for lunch and then MK for two rides we'd missed on Sunday and decided to "pop over" to Poly for special Dole Whip flavors and pool bar drinks there. We decided to take the boat, which was still social distanced. We waited about 20 minutes and quite a line had formed, but they were only able to take us and two other parties. With distancing, there were at least two more boats worth waiting and it seemed they weren't running any extra boats for Poly even without the monorail stop there. Finally got to Poly, picked up a few lime Dole Whip margaritas from the pool bar window on the dock, then over to Pineapple Lanai for a few more treats. We ate in the lobby a/c since the outdoor seating area is cut in half with construction walls. Rather than wait for the boat back to MK, we decided to walk to TTC for the monorail -- MISTAKE! It was SO hot and they were only running the security closest to the parking area, so we had to walk really far with zero shade. I really feel for Poly guests right now and would be upset if I were staying there. They need to put on extra boats (though it may be better once they stop blocking seating) and keep at least a single lane security open near that path at the TTC. That was really our only negative experience and our bad for doing it at the heat of the day, but "popping over" to Poly for DW is not convenient right now.

On Thursday night our Missouri family went home, taking our van rental with them. We moved Friday to a one-bedroom at BWV, using bell services to transfer. We jumped on a bus to AK, which came within a few minutes. We spent a few hours there, grabbed a Joffrey tea and walked the animal trails, used mobile order for Flame Tree, then grabbed a bus to BWV (which was waiting when we walked up) about 1:30pm. I had requested check-in at 2 but we didn't get it until almost 4. Oh well. I had brought my suit, changed in the bathroom and we hung out at the BWV pool bar for a few hours. My mother-in-law drove over from near Tampa and got there right around the time our room opened up. We got her settled in at Dolphin, grabbed mobile order from Boardwalk Bakery and my husband went to the pizza window, and just hung out in the room for the evening.

On Saturday we got to Epcot WS entrance right about 11, headed to the right and visited festival booths as we worked our way around. We got back to BWV about 3 and spent some more pool bar time before dinner off property (Ocean Prime). MIL dropped us off Sunday for our early flight home.

We did not rope drop, but got to a park within an hour of opening time each day. Waits were NOT bad -- headliners around an hour or less, but most rides 20-30 minutes. They were changing things day to day in terms of distancing. We did Philharmagic with distanced seating and markers still in place on Sunday. By Wednesday at AK ITTBAB was wide open (but not packed, so most parties left a seat or two between). Same at Muppets at DS on Thursday.
Saw very few people wearing masks outside, but most were complying without being asked in lines. It was SO nice to walk around World Showcase with a drink again!

It was HOT but not humid, with temps in the mid 90s and real feel in the low 100s each day. I have a neck a/c and big floppy hat, and we ducked into shops and rides to cool off. The humidity and crowds starting building about Friday. From the forecast, it appeared the summer pop-up shower pattern was due to start on cue today!

Already looking forward to our F&W trip in October! Happy to answer any questions...

p.s. Valet parking IS BACK at deluxe resorts! We were told on our arrival day that it would be back this Sunday (yesterday), but we saw valet staff working on Friday at BWV.
 
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The Expert said:
Just got back from a week at the parks. This was our 4th pandemic visit and definitely the busiest, but until holiday weekend crowds arrived it felt very much like a normal May crowd (ie not bad at all). We timed this trip around our youngest niece's school year, but she ended up unable to go anyway. I was reminded why we never go this late in May! The heat was CRAZY but at least we didn't have summer humidity yet.

We took my dad and step-mom (70s) and my nephew and his wife (20s). Stayed at AKV Kidani in a two bedroom (that third bathroom is a life saver with six adults getting ready!). They flew in from Missouri and we flew in from Utah late Saturday, stayed near the airport and headed to the parks in our rental van on Sunday morning about 9am. We did MK on Sunday, Epcot on Monday, AK on Tuesday, Studios on Wednesday and Thursday and I got us RotR passes BOTH days (groups 16 and 7, respectively).

We hopped on Thursday to the Wave for lunch and then MK for two rides we'd missed on Sunday and decided to "pop over" to Poly for special Dole Whip flavors and pool bar drinks there. We decided to take the boat, which was still social distanced. We waited about 20 minutes and quite a line had formed, but they were only able to take us and two other parties. With distancing, there were at least two more boats worth waiting and it seemed they weren't running any extra boats for Poly even without the monorail stop there. Finally got to Poly, picked up a few lime Dole Whip margaritas from the pool bar window on the dock, then over to Pineapple Lanai for a few more treats. We ate in the lobby a/c since the outdoor seating area is cut in half with construction walls. Rather than wait for the boat back to MK, we decided to walk to TTC for the monorail -- MISTAKE! It was SO hot and they were only running the security closest to the parking area, so we had to walk really far with zero shade. I really feel for Poly guests right now and would be upset if I were staying there. They need to put on extra boats (though it may be better once they stop blocking seating) and keep at least a single lane security open near that path at the TTC. That was really our only negative experience and our bad for doing it at the heat of the day, but "popping over" to Poly for DW is not convenient right now.

On Thursday night our Missouri family went home, taking our van rental with them. We moved Friday to a one-bedroom at BWV, using bell services to transfer. We jumped on a bus to AK, which came within a few minutes. We spent a few hours there, grabbed a Joffrey tea and walked the animal trails, used mobile order for Flame Tree, then grabbed a bus to BWV (which was waiting when we walked up) about 1:30pm. I had requested check-in at 2 but we didn't get it until almost 4. Oh well. I had brought my suit, changed in the bathroom and we hung out at the BWV pool bar for a few hours. My mother-in-law drove over from near Tampa and got there right around the time our room opened up. We got her settled in at Dolphin, grabbed mobile order from Boardwalk Bakery and my husband went to the pizza window, and just hung out in the room for the evening.

On Saturday we got to Epcot WS entrance right about 11, headed to the right and visited festival booths as we worked our way around. We got back to BWV about 3 and spent some more pool bar time before dinner off property (Ocean Prime). MIL dropped us off Sunday for our early flight home.

We did not rope drop, but got to a park within an hour of opening time each day. Waits were NOT bad -- headliners around an hour or less, but most rides 20-30 minutes. They were changing things day to day in terms of distancing. We did Philharmagic with distanced seating and markers still in place on Sunday. By Wednesday at AK ITTBAB was wide open (but not packed, so most parties left a seat or two between). Same at Muppets at DS on Thursday.
Saw very few people wearing masks outside, but most were complying without being asked in lines. It was SO nice to walk around World Showcase with a drink again!

Most days we were done by 2 or 3pm and spent time at the Kidani pool bar most afternoons before dinner. We used mobile order for QS for lunch most and pick-up times were usually available right away. We had two reservations at DS and ended up canceling the second after our first visit there. It was insanely crowded

It was HOT but not humid, with temps in the mid 90s and real feel in the low 100s each day. I have a neck a/c and big floppy hat, and we ducked into shops and rides to cool off. The humidity and crowds starting building about Friday. From the forecast, it appeared the summer pop-up shower pattern was due to start on cue today!

Already looking forward to our F&W trip in October! Happy to answer any questions...
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Actually you didn’t have to walk to TTC to return to MK the Poly is running busses to the MK...so you could have jumped on a bus to MK and they run like every 10 min and take only a few min to get to MK
 


Lsdolphin said:
Actually you didn’t have to walk to TTC to return to MK the Poly is running busses to the MK...so you could have jumped on a bus to MK and they run like every 10 min and take only a few min to get to MK
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Our car was still at Contemporary, so we actually wanted to go there and the monorail gave us a more direct shot. Still might've done the bus if we'd known, since the bus dropoff is so close to there!
 


Today was our first day at the parks, and we started at MK. We arrived around 7:10 for an 8:00 am opening. They opened the gates at 7:15. We walked around Fantasyland and Frontierland trying to find an open ride, but nothing opened up until around 7:40. So we got in line for SDMT.

We were off by 8:10 and went straight to Space Mountain. It was 15 minute wait. Once we got off, we headed back to Peter Pan. That was a 20 minute wait. Then we went to Haunted Mansion. It was a walk-on.

Next we walked back over to Frontierland and got in line for BTMR. Our wait was less than 25 minutes. Then we went right next door to Splash with a 35 minute wait. We then walked over to Adventureland and waited almost 45 minutes for Pirates. Then we stopped for lunch at noon.

So we rode the following before 12:00:
SDMT- 26 minutes
Space Mountain- 15 minutes
Peter Pan- 22 minutes
Haunted Mansion- walk-on
BTMR- 23 minutes
Splash Mountain- 35 minutes
Pirates- 43 minutes

We had a fantastic morning! I was a bit worried the crowds would be heavy with it being Memorial Day. But it’s been fine. We were able to ride ALL the headliners before lunch! Our longest wait was Pirates and it was our last ride of the morning.
 
Not sure exactly where to put this but I know a lot of people that are leaving soon read here, 578973 plz move/delete if not OK:
We just had an “interesting” experience with Lyft to ASM—-wanted to let people know that the Lyft app has the incorrect address for ASM in its “pre-populated” menu. It will appear correct when you select it, but somehow it switches the west to east and you could end up (as we did, with an inexperienced driver) at Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace. We were trying to correct our driver (and his GPS) but there was a language barrier. We decided to get out at the Hilton and get a new driver and the Hilton valet said “this happens all the time.” So if anyone takes Lyft be sure to type in the address for ASM I’ve included a screenshot of the “directions” that the Lyft app calculates between All Star Movies and the actual, typed out address.
 
Castlequeen5 said:
Today was our first day at the parks, and we started at MK. We arrived around 7:10 for an 8:00 am opening. They opened the gates at 7:15. We walked around Fantasyland and Frontierland trying to find an open ride, but nothing opened up until around 7:40. So we got in line for SDMT.

We were off by 8:10 and went straight to Space Mountain. It was 15 minute wait. Once we got off, we headed back to Peter Pan. That was a 20 minute wait. Then we went to Haunted Mansion. It was a walk-on.

Next we walked back over to Frontierland and got in line for BTMR. Our wait was less than 25 minutes. Then we went right next door to Splash with a 35 minute wait. We then walked over to Adventureland and waited almost 45 minutes for Pirates. Then we stopped for lunch at noon.

So we rode the following before 12:00:
SDMT- 26 minutes
Space Mountain- 15 minutes
Peter Pan- 22 minutes
Haunted Mansion- walk-on
BTMR- 23 minutes
Splash Mountain- 35 minutes
Pirates- 43 minutes

We had a fantastic morning! I was a bit worried the crowds would be heavy with it being Memorial Day. But it’s been fine. We were able to ride ALL the headliners before lunch! Our longest wait was Pirates and it was our last ride of the morning.
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Sounds like a perfect morning at the Kingdom!!
Do you recall around what time Splash opened? It’s our only must do of the headliners this trip so I want to try and get there as soon as it opens! Thanks!
 
pixiedust2u said:
Sounds like a perfect morning at the Kingdom!!
Do you recall around what time Splash opened? It’s our only must do of the headliners this trip so I want to try and get there as soon as it opens! Thanks!
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We weren’t over there when it actually opened, but it had to be between 7:40-8:00. The cast members said it would be opening soon, and they allowed guests to form a line. But they said BTMR had a delayed opening, and were sending guests away.
 
I just got back from 8 days at WDW. It was 4 days with just me and my DH and then 4 days with my DD21 who just graduated from college. (As an aside, the price of that 4-day PH almost killed me!). We stayed at AKV for 1 night, RIV for 2 nights and BWV for 6 nights.

TRANSPORTATION:

We made it on the first or second bus every morning except our last day when we slept in. I would have changed our MK day to Epcot that day but there were no available park reservations to change to so we just had a late morning arrival at MK instead. I used a scooter and only had to wait for a second bus twice, once to the park and once on the way home. I will arrange Epcot days into my October schedule even if it still opens late because I found that I needed a couple of days where we were not running for the bus at 6:40 in the morning for AK and MK or 7:40 in the morning for DHS. I found that the MDE app was good for bus arrivals for AK and RIV, but didn't work for BWV. It never showed when the first bus was supposed to arrive. We arrived at the bus stop at BWV to go to MK, only to see an AK bus loading when there was no notice on the app of when the bus was supposed to come. There was also no notice at the bus stop when the first bus was supposed to arrive until it was there. The first bus usually came between 45 minutes and 55 minutes after the hour and got us to the park in time for rope drop. On our day at AK with my DD21 it didn't arrive until AFTER 7:00 and dropped us off at 7:30ish. I asked the bus driver if he was the first bus of the day (we were at the stop at 6:45) and he said that he thought that he was because there was another AK bus right behind him so he thought that was supposed to be the first one and he was late. Gee, thanks a lot late bus driver! Of course, we were late to FOP and our wait was considerably longer since we got there 20-30 minutes after unofficial opening. It messed everything up and we were not off FOP until after 8:00 am. We ended up skipping Navi in favor of getting in line for the safari which started running at 8:00 and we still needed to wait for about 30 minutes.

I also think that some people were coming over from the Swolphin to ride the BWV bus, especially to the MK. There were significantly more people waiting for the bus at BWV than there was at RIV. I don't know off the top of my head how many villas are at BWV v/s RIV but I would think the number is pretty close.

We walked/rolled to DHS in the morning (we were at Boardwalk both days). There were NO BOATS early enough to get us to DHS for rope drop. We left BWV around 7:40 and got there by 8:00 and the gates had not opened yet both times. Hint, keep to the right if the lines are the same length because the left line wraps around security and joins the line for people who parked. I don't know about the exact timing for the Skyliner. It was running when we arrived but we didn't take it from RIV to DHS, only home from park hopping to DHS and Epcot.

WAIT TIMES:

I :love::love::love::love::love::love: NO FASTPASSES!!!!

I can't tell you how much I enjoy not playing the FP game. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed not having to plan my entire day 60 days in advance. I can't tell you how much I enjoy not waiting in horrible stand-by lines for rides and watching FP people pass us by. Many CMs enjoyed no FPs as well. I had a number of them say that they really liked how the line moved without FPs. Lines were short or moderate except for the super-duper headliner for each park (FOP, Slinky, Mine Train, Test Track). I waited around 25-30 minutes for most rides. I purchased the Lines app via a Touring Plans membership on my laptop and the app came with it. I've used their free dining reservation finder more than once so I didn't mind paying for the membership and I was able to use a discount code on the laptop but I would have had to pay full price through the Apple app store. I found the Lines app to be more accurate than the official wait times on the MDE app.

In MK lines were short-ish for everything except Mine Train, Jungle Cruise, Pirates and Splash Mountain. The later 3 had longer lines because they were lot loading full boats. Everything else, including Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, were short to moderate. Space Mountain was loading one party per car, so when we went without our DD we were placed in the front car with no one in the 3rd seat. Mine Train was long the whole day, so it's still best to rope drop it and do it right away. Everything else fluctuated and even Peter Pan was only 25 minutes at times during the day! That, my friends, is the power of capped crowds and no FPs.

In DHS lines were short-ish for everything except Slinky. Tower of Terror, Rock and Roll, Toy Story Mania, Mickey's Railway and Smugglers Run also fluctuated during the day. All were less than 30 minutes on and off throughout the day.

In AK, FOP was long all day. The rest were 20-40 minutes, including Everest. That was another example of no FP, I never saw Everest go above 30 minutes. Kali tended to get longer in the hot afternoon, but nothing like it did when FPs were in play. I think we waited about 35 minutes for Kali at 1:30 before we left for the day.

At Epcot, Test Track was long for most of the day. We did it at rope drop and it didn't start running until about 10:45. The rest of the rides, including Frozen and Soarin' fluctuated. We rode both of them after park hopping and waited about 30 minutes for each. The line for the Grand Fiesta Tour was really long one afternoon. I have no idea why, except perhaps because of distancing in the boat.

Here's my take on no FPs now. I think that we stood in line much less than if there were FPs. FPs cut your wait time down to about 10-15 minutes, while doubling the stand-by line. If FPs were in play, I would maybe cut 10-15 minutes off of waiting for 3-4 rides BUT I would have to wait 20-50 minutes more on EVERYTHING ELSE. Most days we knocked off 5-6 rides and lunch before we took our afternoon break. I don't think would get as much done with FPs in play. Once they increase crowd levels closer to maximum, then they will probably have to bring back FPs but for right now, running at full 50% capacity, they are not necessary. Do either rope drop or close a park to get your shortest waits.

RESTAURANTS:

As everyone has said, mobile ordering rocks. Scheduling your lunch break and meal a couple hours ahead of time was really great. We used it everywhere we could except for the Sunshine Tree Terrace because I wanted a pineapple float with pineapple/coconut swirl and that wasn't on the online menu. I had to order it in person. I really liked how it spread out the lunch crowd and we have zero problems finding a table. You couldn't enter the restaurant without a mobile order return so it cut back on table squatters. Once you're called to the pick up window your food is already ready so people who grab a table are only waiting for a minute or two instead of 20-30 minutes for the food runner. It really moves things along. HINT: you can't charge your meal to your MB and the app does not save your gift card number to use the next time. I entered my gift card number into a page on my Notes app. I would copy it from the Notes app and then add it as a new gift card each time and paste in the number.

We ate at three TS restaurants: Topolino's Terrace, California Grill and Trattoria al Forno. I have a mixed report on Topolino's Terrace. I really liked the apps, the Ricotta was divine and the escargot were so delicious and unique, basically en croute. The bread service was cute with the little bread sticks, but one of them for two people was not enough. Plus, the butter was excessively salty. The meal really stumbled on the main course. I had the Rigatoni and my DH had the Lobster Fettuccine. My rigatoni was so salty! I don't know if they over seasoned it because there are no salt and pepper on the table, but it was seriously inedible. And I LOVE salt so much my DH calls me a "salt monster" from that old Star Trek episode. It's really gotta be salty if a salt monster like me thinks it's salty. My DH's fettuccine had a strange sauce on it and the presentation was lacking. It had a sauce americaine which was OK, but the squid ink tuile leached out some of the briny, metallic squid ink taste. It overpowered what would normally be a nice sauce. We won't be back anytime soon.

California Grill was excellent, as always. They have gotten rid of the vegetarian sampler menu where my DD could pick 4 items that were apps or sides for her meal. I have no idea why they did it because I think all the food is still being offered. Of course, we ended up paying more ordering her soup, sushi and goat cheese ravioli separately. So, maybe that's the reason :(.

We ordered from Trattoria al Forno as a to-go order before we headed into Epcot for pick up at 9:50 pm. We have the bruchetta, lasagna and the gnocchi. The bruchetta was soggy but the lasagna was good and my DD loved the gnocchi. I was disappointed that they didn't throw in a bread service that we would normally get at an Italian restaurant. Many local restaurants include a few pieces of bread and some butter when I order a meal to go.

PANDEMIC PROCEEDURES AND COMPLIANCE:

Social distancing is non-existent. I had read that they were reducing the markers on the ground to 3 feet, but all the markers that I saw were still at 6 feet. Everyone ignored them and crowded up against everyone else. We tried to stop at the markers but we had others breathing (literally) down our necks behind us much of the time. It was originally shocking to see so many people without masks as my county has had enforced rules for masks for over a year. I got over that pretty quick. I also got over the anxiety of soooo many people crowded into one place with and without masks. We are all vaccinated so I did not feel totally unsafe but I still plan on getting a Covid test in a couple of days since I had been in close proximity with so many people.

I would not have gone to WDW with children under 12 because of the sheer mass of humanity who were not wearing their masks outside. I would say about 90% of the people outside didn't have masks on (they didn't need to) and I would say about 90-95% of the people in lines, inside or on rides had their masks on properly. There was always a small percentage, 5-10% of the people, who had their noses out, masks on their chins, masks hanging off their ear or masks in their pockets while the rest of us had them on as required. The PA announcements did nothing to change the behavior, only direct requests from CMs made any difference and some pulled the masks off as soon as they were out of view of the CMs. I bought these mask lanyards: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H85M69L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and they were great! I'm so happy I read here about mask lanyards. They really helped a lot to keep the mask handy for the constant on and off of masks. My DD21 said she didn't want to use one and then within her first hour in the park she attached one, LOL.

Some rides still has plastic separators (like Frozen and Jungle Cruise) but most did not. I really liked the plastic separators in line. It was bad enough to have someone close behind me, but I may have lost it if I was surrounded by people on all sides in close proximity. Some rides, like Pirates and Splash were leaving an empty row between parties. Buses were still having seat pods assigned by the driver. I read that some of the larger buses allowed standees, but not the ones to/from BWV. The Friendship boats did not allow groups to mix in rows inside, only one group/family per row. There were signs outside of elevators that said "one group or 4 single people". When there were only 2 of us and 2 other people were waiting, we invited them to ride with us. Most people politely waited. One dad got really mad when another family wouldn't allow his family to barge on the elevator with them and started yelling at the other family.

In all, I'm glad I went. I've heard that it was less busy earlier but my fears that it would be really, really busy were mostly unfounded. I am glad that they dropped the mask requirement for outside. I don't know how all of you did it last summer! 90-degrees plus masks = miserable guests. I feel for the poor CMs. They must be suffocating :(. We have another trip planned for September/October. It will be even busier so I'll wait until August to make my decision. I won't go unless I can buy an AP. I may not go if WDW lifts all crowd limits because I'm sure it's going to be busy, but I don't think I can take "crazy" like NYE.

Sorry this was so long! Please feel free to ask any questions :).
 
Back from a week (May 23-29). I knew to get to the parking lot about an hour before official park opening, but the first day at Epcot and 2nd day at MK we left our offsite villa about 20 minutes later than planned (so got to parking about 1/2 hour before park opening). The result was Test Track line was already quite long and 7DMT was also very long. So we waited until later in the day and that was much better. Seems like if you don't get there at "rope drop" then its better to do those headliners later in the day (or right at the end). Later in the week we did get to HS and AK right at the beginning and were able to do Slinky and FOP with short waits.

Overall it was a great week. We used the umbrella for shade and used cooling towels in the afternoon. Got to do everything we wanted with waits typically 30 min or less (and we did all the headliners multiple times). We were able to do ROTR 3 times, FOP 3 times. Did FOP at rope drop once and at end of day (6:55 pm) twice. Short waits. One day we were the VERY last ones getting on FOP, line closed right after we got in.
Oh, and being able to go without a mask outdoors really helped.
 
One more thing. Masks in lines and on rides was pretty good on compliance. But we did see one young man (about 20 or so) that was openly defying the policy in the Kali River Rapids. He put it on at the entrance to the line or whenever a cast member was looking, but would take it off and just hold it the rest of the time. His family was pretty lax too. But that was really an exception.

The one thing that really bothered me about those who were not following instruction was that all 3 of our Tower of Terror photos were blocked because someone in the group would have a mask below the nose or off. Annoying because one person can screw it up for everyone. I felt like the CMs should have specifically told them as they got in the elevator that if they don't wear the mask properly they will block the photo for everyone.
 
JohnR5101 said:
One more thing. Masks in lines and on rides was pretty good on compliance. But we did see one young man (about 20 or so) that was openly defying the policy in the Kali River Rapids. He put it on at the entrance to the line or whenever a cast member was looking, but would take it off and just hold it the rest of the time. His family was pretty lax too. But that was really an exception.

The one thing that really bothered me about those who were not following instruction was that all 3 of our Tower of Terror photos were blocked because someone in the group would have a mask below the nose or off. Annoying because one person can screw it up for everyone. I felt like the CMs should have specifically told them as they got in the elevator that if they don't wear the mask properly they will block the photo for everyone.
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One of my photos was blocked too. I assume it was because someone didn't have their mask on. We didn't have a memory maker (no AP this trip) so it didn't bother me too much, but I would have been mad if I had paid for my photos and someone else ruined it.
 
Recent HS goers..

what gives? Did ToT open another elevator or did loading every row make that much of r difference. For months ToT has run 60+ minutes most of the day…. I’ve been seeing it as low as 20 minutes mid day!!!! Exciting as we were going to rope drop SDD and skip ToT, but now maybe I can ride both!
 
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