Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[preemiemama]

I am not seeing that level of trash in GE but yes I’ll echo everyone else with you must rope drop to do 2-3 rides with minimal waits. After that it’s crazy.

 

[epcotobsessed]

^seen (always make typos on my phone, sorry)

 

[cakebaker]

queue stopped so I’ll elaborate - I have see. CMs hustling to pick up trash but it’s clear there are not nearly enough of them. They can only do so much with the staff they have.

Or they could quit ramping up for capacities they clearly can't handle.

 

[epcotobsessed]

Or they could quit ramping up for capacities they clearly can't handle.

Totally agree, just wanted to be clear that I don’t blame the CMs. They have all been great, but Disney isn’t doing what it needs to do to handle the crowds they are bringing in.

 

[cakebaker]

Totally agree, just wanted to be clear that I don’t blame the CMs. They have all been great, but Disney isn’t doing what it needs to do to handle the crowds they are bringing in.

I absolutely don't blame them.

 

[Nirek]

I had read that MK buses were starting 90min before opening but BC didn’t get our first MK bus until 70min before opening. Pulled up at 8:05, tap-in started about 8:20, held until exactly 9, walked slowly and held again, twice, for Splash. Wait quickly built to 75 minutes. Waits for everything are the longest I’ve ever seen at 10am, save maybe SDMT, which is always 90ish this time of day.

Been trying to figure out beach club bussing - I arrive Saturday. Is BC sharing morning busses with YC? Or is it easy to get that first bus if you post up 90 minutes before open?

Sorry to hear things are rough… looking for some input so I can maximize!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Random but does anyone know when certain EPCOT restaurants close? my ADR date is approaching and we are hearing reports of Via Napoli closing at 7 but Le Cellier being open through park close? Any info will be greatly appreciated!

Also please don't forget to stay hydrated! It is getting hot and humid everywhere and hydration is key! Stay safe and have fun fellow disboard humans!

 

[brockash]

Yep. I was one of those. I like not having to have so much scheduled. We went in May & lines were still manageable but just got back again this week & they no longer are. Guess they’re setting us up to be happy to pay for FP.

Yep...they really are, from a business standpoint, geniuses in taking away stuff that used to be complimentary, just to turn around and dress it up. call it something new and have us in the mindset that oh we're just so grateful to have the opportunity to pay for it. It's pretty sad and pathetic from the customer view, but they've been insanely successful with it

 

[honeymo78]

Random but does anyone know when certain EPCOT restaurants close? my ADR date is approaching and we are hearing reports of Via Napoli closing at 7 but Le Cellier being open through park close? Any info will be greatly appreciated!

Also please don't forget to stay hydrated! It is getting hot and humid everywhere and hydration is key! Stay safe and have fun fellow disboard humans!

As of 2 weeks ago, Via Napoli was definitely closing at 7 due to staffing issues, per a friend who works at another Epcot dining location. This may be partly due to the fact that it isn't fully a Disney restaurant and possibly can't pull from the full Disney pool of servers.

 

[DisneyFive]

While fast pass spread out crowds throughout the day as people would book midday passes and sleep in or have a late TS breakfast, now it seems everybody is rope dropping all at once.

Exactly, FP helped out the rope drop situation significantly because many guests already had headliners booked for later. There was not the innate need to be there right at rope drop let alone 40 minutes before park open so that they could get on the headliners. Shoot, many of them slept in and weren’t even at rope drop . Now, the word is out that without FP you need to be at the park extremely early if you want to get your one or two precious headliners completed. just sucks right now.

Dan

 

[kc51570]

Just curious...is this an accurate depiction of conditions in the parks? Because if so.....wow.

I did not see that. I did see a woman hustling and weaving through the 45 minute line at Kali River Rapids carrying heavy trash bags multiple times. We stayed DVC and they were pretty good at taking our trash and recycling every day. I did not notice any accumulating in those hallways.

 

[serenitygr]

Makes me so sad to see how the majority of reports are getting more and more negative- from lines to breakdowns to trash to crowds…. The optimistic side of me wants to believe it’s because people with negative experiences are more likely to report them, but the longer it goes on the more I’m starting to doubt that
What has happened to the Disney we all love so much? Will it ever be better where we have more positive reports instead of so many negative?

 

[PrincessV]

I didn't see anything as bad as the picture in here of overflowing trash cans while I was there 7/1-7, but I definitely saw that things were understaffed. Several restrooms were in pretty bad shape, and a fair amount of trash - paper cups, napkins, maps, food wrappers, etc. - was laying about in parks, not being picked up quickly. IMO, WDW is nowhere near properly staffed for the increased capacity it's allowing in.

 

[100AcreWood]

I didn't see anything as bad as the picture in here of overflowing trash cans while I was there 7/1-7, but I definitely saw that things were understaffed. Several restrooms were in pretty bad shape, and a fair amount of trash - paper cups, napkins, maps, food wrappers, etc. - was laying about in parks, not being picked up quickly. IMO, WDW is nowhere near properly staffed for the increased capacity it's allowing in.

That's concerning. It's good to know as we head into our first post-pandemic trip.

 

[Sarahslay]

just my 2 socioeconomic opinion cents: the more complicated the ride, the more risk of breaking down. Anything mechanical can obviously break, but the more technicalities, the more that can go wrong, and the harder to fix. Can't have the good without the bad.

On another note, thank you for all your posts! I'm so excited for my upcoming trip and reading these really helps!

I'm sorry I'm just now seeing this, it's been a rough week! You're very welcome! I try to put my way too many trips to use somehow lol. I do hope you hope you guys have an awesome trip too!

I think, since last August, I've gotten stuck on almost every ride at WDW aside from RnR at least once. I even got stuck on the speedway when the engine gave out on our car.....twice! Didn't run out of gas, it just kept shutting down, and the second time the engine just gave out (in the rain no less). Just kinda nuts, but I just roll with it, it can get frustrating at times but it's not like there aren't other rides to go do if one is broken down. I do make sure I don't hop in line when I think I might have to go to the bathroom though, made the mistake before going on carousel of progress on this last trip. Had to watch each scene 2-3 times in a row, took forever, that was a rough go.

 

[MomOTwins]

Exactly, FP helped out the rope drop situation significantly because many guests already had headliners booked for later. There was not the innate need to be there right at rope drop let alone 40 minutes before park open so that they could get on the headliners. Shoot, many of them slept in and weren’t even at rope drop . Now, the word is out that without FP you need to be at the park extremely early if you want to get your one or two precious headliners completed. just sucks right now.

Dan

The cynic in me suspects they are just conditioning us to be grateful when paid fastpass rolls out.

Can I just say, I'm floored to realize that it's been a full year, over 600 pages, and this thread is still an incredibly valuable source of information of what is happening on the ground at WDW. I have read literally every post since it began and I learn something new almost every ay. Hope this sticks around even after Covid--would be so useful when trying to figure out a good time of year to visit; be aware of unannounced changes.

 

[Fantasmic303]

I second what MomOTwins said - really appreciate the detailed and honest reviews and the real-time updates from everyone contributing. So much changes day by day, and it's really helpful to have eyes (and ears!) in the World to prepare for what to expect!

 

[rockabyemonkey]

I am wondering what the lines are like at Blizzard Beach - we have PH+ tickets and may end up spending more time at BB if it means we can escape the crowds. Any recent experience with BB?

 

[Mango7100]

I didn't see anything as bad as the picture in here of overflowing trash cans while I was there 7/1-7, but I definitely saw that things were understaffed. Several restrooms were in pretty bad shape, and a fair amount of trash - paper cups, napkins, maps, food wrappers, etc. - was laying about in parks, not being picked up quickly. IMO, WDW is nowhere near properly staffed for the increased capacity it's allowing in.

Agree. We were there 6/30-7/8 but only did 3 park days. The bathrooms did need some love and lots of tables had trays and trash from eating. Our resort had no issues though, just the parks

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

Random but does anyone know when certain EPCOT restaurants close? my ADR date is approaching and we are hearing reports of Via Napoli closing at 7 but Le Cellier being open through park close? Any info will be greatly appreciated!

Also please don't forget to stay hydrated! It is getting hot and humid everywhere and hydration is key! Stay safe and have fun fellow disboard humans!

Though I can't answer your question about other restaurants, I will share that I ate at Via Napoli in May - we had a 6:45 reservation, seated around 6:50, and then we were told the kitchen was closing at 7 PM. While we ordered right away, it wasn't a great experience as the CM's were cleaning up and closing down even before we got our food.