Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[Katie1174]

Would you mind doing a little "on the ground" research during the evening deluxe hours? Curious if this is a thing:

Maybe not as needed tonight at Epcot, though it is a sold out day so I imagine it will be crazy busy all week. Definitely would be curious if this works at MK on Wednesday!

I haven’t experienced Deluxe evening hours yet as we go later in the year this year, but i do know that pre-covid when they did After Hours parties, they always let us into the fastpass line to bypass the standby line. Some ride CM’s would do this the minute the party officially started and some would let you do it starting about 1/2 hour before it even officially started. Of course, this was an extra paid event, not included for staying Deluxe, so mileage may vary.

 

[pens4821]

Would you mind doing a little "on the ground" research during the evening deluxe hours? Curious if this is a thing:

Maybe not as needed tonight at Epcot, though it is a sold out day so I imagine it will be crazy busy all week. Definitely would be curious if this works at MK on Wednesday!

I didn’t really get any info on this tonight at epcot. We got in line for soarin about 830 and by the time we made it to tt it was 925. Everyone was lined up to scan to show they were resort guests in the regular line. However, when we got to the merge point there were people tapping in from the LL side (no one was over there while we waited the few minutes to scan in the regular line) and by that point it was probably about 935. I should’ve asked but I didn’t want to hold up the line.

As for the extra hours, like others say the time goes fast. Not to mention tt went down for maybe 15 minutes so that put us behind. We got in the park a little before 8. Rode nemo and lwtl walk on. Waited about 30 minutes for soarin at 835 (posted 55). Got in line for tt at 925. Met others in Mexico at about 1015 and realized it would either be frozen or remy (both posted 45). So we walked to remy, got in line at 1025, and waited 35.

Even if it wouldn’t have been for the tt down time I don’t think it would’ve worked for us personally to do frozen too. After walking a lot the last couple days anything more than a normal pace wasnt happening at that point. If we wouldn’t have done nemo and lwtl we probably could’ve done frozen too.

Between the space of the rides and how many people actually stay deluxe, I don’t think it’s really that great of a perk. We will see if it works out better at MK where there are more rides and some closer together.

 

[jbish]

However, when we got to the merge point there were people tapping in from the LL side (no one was over there while we waited the few minutes to scan in the regular line) and by that point it was probably about 935. I should’ve asked but I didn’t want to hold up the line.

Between the space of the rides and how many people actually stay deluxe, I don’t think it’s really that great of a perk. We will see if it works out better at MK where there are more rides and some closer together.

Very interesting - I wonder what the LL were used for during the evening hours at TT? Does this mean that those people got in front of those behind you that were also presumably Deluxe guests too?

I look forward to the report from MK. Seems like you'd get a lot more benefit there just from the sheer number of rides you can go to. During our week, we will miss Epcot (arrive Tues) but we happen to be there the one week they're doing HS instead of MK. Fewer rides to choose from so maybe it's more in line with Epcot but less spread out. However, I really figured the limitation to Deluxe resorts would keep the numbers down so I'm very curious how you'll feel at MK given how busy it has been. Good luck to you! And thanks for all of the reporting! Super helpful!!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Very interesting - I wonder what the LL were used for during the evening hours at TT? Does this mean that those people got in front of those behind you that were also presumably Deluxe guests too?

I look forward to the report from MK. Seems like you'd get a lot more benefit there just from the sheer number of rides you can go to. During our week, we will miss Epcot (arrive Tues) but we happen to be there the one week they're doing HS instead of MK. Fewer rides to choose from so maybe it's more in line with Epcot but less spread out. However, I really figured the limitation to Deluxe resorts would keep the numbers down so I'm very curious how you'll feel at MK given how busy it has been. Good luck to you! And thanks for all of the reporting! Super helpful!!

Have you tried asking your questions on the Extra Evening Hours thread? There's probably some great information there as that thread is only people who qualify for and have used the EEH option.

 

[jbish]

Have you tried asking your questions on the Extra Evening Hours thread? There's probably some great information there as that thread is only people who qualify for and have used the EEH option.

Well that seems like a logical thing to do....lol. I'll do that. Though I did ask here since it was brought up on this particular thread. But can't hurt to ask on that one too.

 

[DisneyElite4]

I didn’t really get any info on this tonight at epcot. We got in line for soarin about 830 and by the time we made it to tt it was 925. Everyone was lined up to scan to show they were resort guests in the regular line. However, when we got to the merge point there were people tapping in from the LL side (no one was over there while we waited the few minutes to scan in the regular line) and by that point it was probably about 935. I should’ve asked but I didn’t want to hold up the line.

As for the extra hours, like others say the time goes fast. Not to mention tt went down for maybe 15 minutes so that put us behind. We got in the park a little before 8. Rode nemo and lwtl walk on. Waited about 30 minutes for soarin at 835 (posted 55). Got in line for tt at 925. Met others in Mexico at about 1015 and realized it would either be frozen or remy (both posted 45). So we walked to remy, got in line at 1025, and waited 35.

Even if it wouldn’t have been for the tt down time I don’t think it would’ve worked for us personally to do frozen too. After walking a lot the last couple days anything more than a normal pace wasnt happening at that point. If we wouldn’t have done nemo and lwtl we probably could’ve done frozen too.

Between the space of the rides and how many people actually stay deluxe, I don’t think it’s really that great of a perk. We will see if it works out better at MK where there are more rides and some closer together.

We were at Epcot yesterday too, and got in the lightning lane at close to the same time you got in the standby for Test Track. My family uses DAS, and I had made a DAS selection for the attraction during dinner. There was a family who had a lightning lane pass from earlier in the day who were not staying Deluxe who were arguing with the CMs, so my best guess is that the lightning lane was for DAS users and maybe also Deluxe guests who had LL times for right at park close. I couldn’t ask though as the CMs were occupied with other guests.

 

[pens4821]

Very interesting - I wonder what the LL were used for during the evening hours at TT? Does this mean that those people got in front of those behind you that were also presumably Deluxe guests too?

yes. When we got to the merge point they stopped the standby line and let a couple people through. I heard her say scan your band to someone but I was a little bit back so not sure if anything else was said. Then they let a group of standby through and maybe 4 more people came through the LL line while we were waiting for the design room. I really should’ve asked because I’m curious now too!

 

[pens4821]

We were at Epcot yesterday too, and got in the lightning lane at close to the same time you got in the standby for Test Track. My family uses DAS, and I had made a DAS selection for the attraction during dinner. There was a family who had a lightning lane pass from earlier in the day who were not staying Deluxe who were arguing with the CMs, so my best guess is that the lightning lane was for DAS users and maybe also Deluxe guests who had LL times for right at park close. I couldn’t ask though as the CMs were occupied with other guests.

I should have read your reply before I answered. Thanks for this! Makes sense.

 

[DisneyElite4]

I should have read your reply before I answered. Thanks for this! Makes sense.

No worries! It was the only thing we did during the deluxe guests extra hours as my special needs child was all done after Test Track, so I didn’t have another chance to ask/test it. We will be at MK tomorrow, so I will try again then and report back.

 

[Fabinva]

We were there last week, March 7-March 12, stayed offsite and had park hopped tickets. We had 4 day park hop ticket, took at day off to rest midweek and went to Universal another day. We knew better than to try to get everything done in such busy time. Genie + did not work well for us. Purchased it for a day and it was too hard to get reservation for attractions during the time we had planned to be at a certain park, the time changes so fast when trying to book, usually several hours later than initially selected. We were able to get what we wanted done at rope drop or later in the evening.
On 3/7 we started with AK, right after park opening we went to FoP and waited 60min for it, also purchased LL for it for 12:20pm as we wanted to ride it again. We got the Safari and Dinosaur done that morning. We had lunch at Rainforest and left the park to rest after. In the evening we went to DHS, rode Millennium Smuggler's ride (45min wait), had reservation for Ogga at 8:30pm and planned to hop to RoTR right before closing but it was raining so hard after Smuggler's ride and then Ogga was packed, there were no tables (stand at bar only) and was too crowded so we declined and left the park with our shoes soaked... you may have seen the TikTok videos and news of the flooding that evening.
On 3/09 we went back to Hollywood studios in the morning, I jumped in the line for MMRT right after park opening, it was a 30min wait. My family went to SDD, waited about 40min. Then headed to RnR coaster (60min wait). I had purchased Genie + for this day and got a pass to ride MMRT again (all of us this time) at 12:50pm, we then tried TSM but it stopped working so we left and grabbed some food, came back to TSM and the line was much lower then, waited about 30min, and left the park after.
While waiting in lines I tried to get another pass using Genie + but everything that showed was for much later in the day or what we wanted was not available, spend a long time refreshing, draining phone battery. I was able to find a couple of rides but by the time I went to book it was no longer available, that happened about 3 or 4 times. Eventually gave up. I should note that I was looking for popular ride like TMS, TT and Frozen but even the Alien saucers were showing up much later in the day and we did not want to stay at the park that long.
Went to Epcot in the afternoon, started raining heavy as soon as we got in so we rode Spaceship Earth, the rain was about done when we got out (15min later) and then headed to Mission Space (10min wait for Orange) and then went to Space 220 lounge for a quick bite and drinks, we had a reservation and still waited 30min for our table. After that we went around the World showcase, enjoyed the concert for a bit (Foreigners Journey) then rode Remy (65min wait) and watched some of Harmonious as we were leaving the park.
On 03/11 we went to MK in the morning, we rode BTMR first, it was very fast, don't think we waited even 10min and then Pirates (20min wait), then we waited 50min for Peter Pan and after that we left because Space Mountain was down. We came back that evening because it was the only day without predicted rain in the evening and really wanted to see the new Celebrations show at night. We rode Haunted Mansion with a 35 min wait and then Philarmagic with 0 wait time. We then headed to find a spot for the show, we liked it but Wishes was much better (for us). After that headed to Space Mountain, the wait there was longer than then 60 min posted time. Then we rode 7DMT (waited 30min), went to grab drinks and then rode it again, this time the wait was closer to 40min. We left after that.
On 03/12 it rained and had storms in the morning so we arrived at Epcot around 1pm, we did Soaring with a 15min wait, then Frozen ~40min, TT was closed and by the time it opened wait was too long so we skipped it. We shopped at Mexico, ate at France and did more shopping on way out. It was our last day and we had no energy left to go anywhere after that. It was also very windy and cold, we had no heavy jackets to deal with that weather.

We did not get to do ROTR but we are not huge fans of it and had done it already in previous trip so it was ok. We've been there during Spring break many times before and maybe we forgot how busy it gets, it was busier than expected. We likely won't be doing Park Hopper again. It was tiring to park, walk to entrance, walk around and then a long walk back to car. The only Tram working was at TTC for MK.

 

[Mango7100]

HS/Epcot on 3/13…

We were held at the finger scans until 745 for a 8 am early entry. We went to MMRR first to queue. After that we did TSMM twice with a 5 minute wait each. We jumped in line again for a third trip with a 10 minute wait and by the time we exited the queue was in the outside area. Did our LL for Slinky at 915, booked LL for RnRC for 1040 (originally got 2 pm but gambled, cancelled, and got an earlier time). Ate breakfast at Woodys lunch box and by this time all the rides (even Saucers) was over 40 minutes and they looked that long with the eyeball test. Did RnRC with our LL (posted was 80 and line was crazy long). Booked LL for meeting Minnie for 1120 since everything else was for return times in the evening. After Minnie had a drink at Baseline and booked LL for Frozen for 820. Booked an LL for Soarin for 615 after our 2 hr window while we were watching basketball tournament in our room. Evening at Epcot was Soarin LL, Living with the Land standby by, Frozen LL and doing some food booths (lines for booths were not long compared to what I was expecting).

So HS definitely was a struggle from 930 onward unless you wanted to do shows. CMs all nice, no overflowing trash, bathrooms clean.

 

[Mango7100]

MK 3/14…

We went wire to wire, got there at 8 am and we’re on the ferry to TTc at 11 pm. Arrived at 8 am for 830 early entry. We went for Space since we didn’t want to participate in the crazy town 7D rope drop (and we had purchased a LL for 6-7pm). We were in the front 1/4 of the pack for Space and DH and DD were off it by 850. I waited outside and watched a steady stream of people line up for Space until 845. If you aren’t in the front of the pack (which means getting there early) you aren’t getting Space in before early entry is over.

We did the following LLs that day…Peter Pan (first one of the day booked at 7 for return at 1015), meet Tiana, meet Cinderella, Small World, HM, Pirates, Big Thunder, Pooh, and LL for 7D. Ironically the 7D LL was our longest wait of the day. It was down for a long time and the LL line was stretched all the way down to Enchanted Tales with Belle. It took us 30 minutes to get through it, the standby was 160 at that point and I’m sure they were barely taking any standby inorder to clear out the LL back up.

We did the following standby…Barnstormer x4 (don’t judge, DD loves it ), Carousel, Tea Cupsx2, People Mover, Little Mermaid, Tiki Room, Dapper Dan’s, Laugh Floor, Dumbo x 2 during fireworks (very cool), and 12 pm Festival of Fantasy. Also saw Cinderella’s step sisters who were hilarious And got some good pics. We scored a last minute Storybook Dining that morning for a 430 dinner, so that was a great break to go sit at Fort Wilderness during the crowded afternoon.

On a crowded day we accomplished a lot with the longest wait of 30 minutes. It was crowded for sure but not as bad as I was bracing for. The day was way better than I had anticipated.

 

[pens4821]

We didn’t get many attractions today, but got done pretty much what we wanted. After an all day long Sunday, and an early morning and late night yesterday (had a few hour break in between) it was time for a relaxing morning. We slept in till 830, took our time, and left for MK at 1030. Bus came within a couple minutes.

Went to Buzz first. Posted 65 actual 75 at 11. I know buzz can get kind of long, but never expected that. While in line we ordered some food from lunching pad. As I got off the ride I hit im here for mobile order. It took about a half hour. There were many people just walking up, ordering, and getting their food. There were short lines the other day somewhere else where we waited forever. I think next time I’m just going to look at ordering right at the quick service places instead of mobile order.

We wanted to do people mover but it was listed 30 and the line looked huge. We went to CoP and after that we noticed the people mover line was empty but they were running empty cars. Within a couple minutes they restarted and we walked right on.

From there we were going to do the speedway but it was something like 50 minutes or more so we decided not to. Went to philarmagic and just had to wait for the next show. It was about 230 and the waits were all high and we had a reservation at boatwrights for 5. We took a couple pictures and walked through some shops. The bus was right there and we were at POR about 330. Just hung out right outside there as it was a pretty nice day. Didn’t really care for the chefs platter but the others all really liked their food.

We headed to HS for the evening. St had the lowest wait so we went there. It was posted 25 at 630 but walked on. Unsure whether to do Mfsm then rotr, or go to the other side and do rnrc and tot to end the night. We decided on the later. Rnrc was posted 90 at 650 took 95. TOT was posted 115 at 830 and it took 60.

It was raining in line for tot and pouring when we left. Went to the bus stop since the boats weren’t running to yacht but ended up just walking. The line was huge and it was shared between yacht/beach/swan/dolphin/boardwalk.Just decided we were already wet who cares and had the walkway pretty much to ourselves.

All in all not a bad day. The only other things I wanted to do at MK was the speedway and country bears. But it was just crowded and didn’t feel like walking towards country bears or waiting for speedway. We will get both later in the week.

Its nice that we can have a sleep in day (actually two as tomorrow is also). We have 6 day hoppers so we usually end up in each park (except AK) 3/4 times so we have enough opportunities to do everything and do it multiple times.

 

[BlancheNeige7]

Here now ready to start our Day 4 of parks. Even with all parks sold out we have been able to tour and accomplish as much as we would have in our past trips (last trip March 2020) thanks to Genie+!

We usually get to the parks later and stay til close. Yesterday (15/03) we hoped in the line for MMRT with 10 minutes of wait! On Sunday (13/03) we hoped in line for Ratatouille 5 minutes before closing and waited 15 minutes!

Genie+ has helped us save quite a bit of time in line at MK, AK and DS. That said, the Disney App is not user friendly and I would change a few things... I have a love-hate relationship with it. My advice, please read up on how to use it, explore the app ahead of time and have your park-specific strategies. We purchased it because of the predicted crowds, but would pass on it on our next trip in August with lower crowds.

 

[pens4821]

Would you mind doing a little "on the ground" research during the evening deluxe hours? Curious if this is a thing:

Maybe not as needed tonight at Epcot, though it is a sold out day so I imagine it will be crazy busy all week. Definitely would be curious if this works at MK on Wednesday!

At 1055 I asked at haunted mansion if deluxe guests got in the regular line and was told yes. There wasn’t much of a wait before the merge point though. Would’ve maybe saved a couple minutes even if they did it. Maybe on a longer wait they would. Nothing we rode had a long wait though. Went from there to pp, 7d. Pp pretty much walk on, 7d maybe 15 minutes. Tomorrowland rides walk on. Big thunder pretty much walk on.

 

[armerida]

At 1055 I asked at haunted mansion if deluxe guests got in the regular line and was told yes. There wasn’t much of a wait before the merge point though. Would’ve maybe saved a couple minutes even if they did it. Maybe on a longer wait they would. Nothing we rode had a long wait though. Went from there to pp, 7d. Pp pretty much walk on, 7d maybe 15 minutes. Tomorrowland rides walk on. Big thunder pretty much walk on.

Was this for 10:00-12:00 EEH? Did you start right at 10:00?

 

[Neverbeast]

It seems like longer park hours make a bigger difference than anything else. Less families want to jump in the last minute line at 11 than 9 I assume.

 

[jbish]

At 1055 I asked at haunted mansion if deluxe guests got in the regular line and was told yes. There wasn’t much of a wait before the merge point though. Would’ve maybe saved a couple minutes even if they did it. Maybe on a longer wait they would. Nothing we rode had a long wait though. Went from there to pp, 7d. Pp pretty much walk on, 7d maybe 15 minutes. Tomorrowland rides walk on. Big thunder pretty much walk on.

Thank you for coming back to report! Must have been a LONG night but sounds like it was worth it if everything was a walk on!!

 

[jbish]

It seems like longer park hours make a bigger difference than anything else. Less families want to jump in the last minute line at 11 than 9 I assume.

For sure. While we're there in April, we will have the EEH at HS, which, as of now, closes at 9 pm. So I'm thinking we'll have a lot of day guests jumping in at the last minute so it's probably not apples-to-apples.

 

[zillayen]

We’re here now. We are Disney vets, I had low expectations, but we came after 3 days at Universal with Express Unlimited passes and I can safely say this will be our last Disney trip. Transportation is much more difficult. The crowds here, while there are similar numbers of people to Universal, are so much more rude and aggressive. Everyone seems stressed and rushed, pushing and stepping on you to get somewhere. The need to schedule/reserve everything and then be unable to cancel or reschedule is incredibly frustrating - for dining and Genie+. We have MK reservations for today but no one wants to go back after last night. But because of the reservations and park hop rules we have to waste hours getting there to tap in before we can hop to another park.

I used to love WDW and was a pass holder at DL for years. I’ve realized that we much prefer to be able to go with the flow and the current mode of Disney is not suited for us at all. We’ve already decided to upgrade our Universal tix to passes and honestly if I can find a room at one of the premier hotels there tonight I’ll just check out of here and not come back. I am glad my daughter got to ride BTMRR because it’s her favorite.