Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping
Wood Nymph
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2012
Texans_loyal
Operation Disney is Underway!
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2016
Wrapping up our first family trip! This was my husband's & Bonus son's first Disney trip and my first one back since 2019.
I was hoping my husband would fall in love but it was the opposite
i don't blame him though. customer service wasn't what it used to be and food quality is the worst I've seen in years.
The kiddo on the other hand is over the moon! He doesn't ask for much, seeing him run around and be so engaged was heartwarming. We will definitely be doing mom/son trips!
Merchandise: if you see something you like, buy it! The shelves at MK were bare by 10 PM and a lot of merch wasn't available in certain locations. I saw the 50th mug once and regret not grabbing it.
Crowds: Not low by any means, We always visit in August and this is the busiest I've ever seen it. Still manageable though!
We mobile ordered every meal. This was a lifesaver with 8 of us! 3 people on 3 separate devices were able to order at the same time under my account with no issues.
We had DAS and Genie+.
I was under the impression that DAS only applied to the person in need and not the whole group. I was wrong, should've done my research. We did everything we wanted and more but you definitely don't need both.
Epcot:
Got a noon return time for Guardians at 7 am.
Rope dropped Ratatouille, Test track and Soarin. Rerode Ratatouille, Test track and Soarin via DAS. The DAS return times were almost immediate.
Rode Guardians and was blown out of the water. WOW, WHAT A RIDE!!
I was originally complaining about paying to ride but I immediately paid for a second LL as soon as we got off, well worth it. Hands down the best ride at DW IMO.
MK:
DAS: Buzz, Astro, 7 dwarfs X 2, peter pan, haunted mansion, pirates. DAS times were available as soon as i booked them.
Genie Stacked for the evening: Splash, Thunder mountain, jungle cruise & Ariel.
HS:
Last park day! Started stacking Genie at 7 am but didn't get into the park till 2. Got some much needed rest!
Genie: MMRR, saucers , Slinky, TOT, RR
DAS: return times varied from one to two hours after booking: ROTR, Muppets, MF, ST, TSM.
I was hoping my husband would fall in love but it was the opposite
i don't blame him though. customer service wasn't what it used to be and food quality is the worst I've seen in years.The kiddo on the other hand is over the moon! He doesn't ask for much, seeing him run around and be so engaged was heartwarming. We will definitely be doing mom/son trips!
Merchandise: if you see something you like, buy it! The shelves at MK were bare by 10 PM and a lot of merch wasn't available in certain locations. I saw the 50th mug once and regret not grabbing it.
Crowds: Not low by any means, We always visit in August and this is the busiest I've ever seen it. Still manageable though!
We mobile ordered every meal. This was a lifesaver with 8 of us! 3 people on 3 separate devices were able to order at the same time under my account with no issues.
We had DAS and Genie+.
I was under the impression that DAS only applied to the person in need and not the whole group. I was wrong, should've done my research. We did everything we wanted and more but you definitely don't need both.
Epcot:
Got a noon return time for Guardians at 7 am.
Rope dropped Ratatouille, Test track and Soarin. Rerode Ratatouille, Test track and Soarin via DAS. The DAS return times were almost immediate.
Rode Guardians and was blown out of the water. WOW, WHAT A RIDE!!
I was originally complaining about paying to ride but I immediately paid for a second LL as soon as we got off, well worth it. Hands down the best ride at DW IMO.
MK:
DAS: Buzz, Astro, 7 dwarfs X 2, peter pan, haunted mansion, pirates. DAS times were available as soon as i booked them.
Genie Stacked for the evening: Splash, Thunder mountain, jungle cruise & Ariel.
HS:
Last park day! Started stacking Genie at 7 am but didn't get into the park till 2. Got some much needed rest!
Genie: MMRR, saucers , Slinky, TOT, RR
DAS: return times varied from one to two hours after booking: ROTR, Muppets, MF, ST, TSM.
heathsf
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2010
Early Entry this past Friday was 7:30am. We got to the bus stop at 6:40 and another family told us they missed the first bus by moments as they saw it pulling away and that was about 5 min before we got there. We had to wait 20 min for the next bus and by the time it came the bus stop was packed. I’d definitely recommend getting to the bus stop 60 min before early entry if you can manage it. We arrived at MK at 7:27 which worked out well for starting with smaller rides. We didn’t bother going for 7 Dwarfs or Peter Pan at that point.
ETA: 7 Dwarfs didn’t open until around 11am this day so it really worked out for us that we decided not to get in line for it.
heathsf
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2010
We have had some of the best cast member interactions on this trip that we’ve ever had. They have made so much magic for us.
I do see small groups of cast members talking to each other, as previous posters have mentioned, but it in no way negatively affects our experience. We’ve talked to quite a few CMs who clearly love their jobs and spreading pixie dust. I’ve left more cast compliments than I can count and I wish I could submit them for the character interactions we’ve had.
Side note, this is our first trip without an autograph book and we don’t miss it at all. Without having the book to hand over, our kids are having more unique interactions with the characters and I am so glad we didn’t get the book this time.
I do see small groups of cast members talking to each other, as previous posters have mentioned, but it in no way negatively affects our experience. We’ve talked to quite a few CMs who clearly love their jobs and spreading pixie dust. I’ve left more cast compliments than I can count and I wish I could submit them for the character interactions we’ve had.
Side note, this is our first trip without an autograph book and we don’t miss it at all. Without having the book to hand over, our kids are having more unique interactions with the characters and I am so glad we didn’t get the book this time.
cakebaker
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2013
We had both as well in mid July and found it very helpful to have both. Because of DAS, we could use it for the most popular rides without having to grab those first and/or watch the clock to grab something at the time we needed it. It left Genie+ free to book in our afternoon park or to book rides that didn't run out quite so fast. We don't always have DAS available to us, but when we do, we'll still get Genie+ because it makes everything super easy to do. I'm mentally making notes for my trip mid-October where I will not have DAS and it's much harder to figure out how to get all the must do's in for a shorter trip. I anticipate we'll be doing a lot of change of plans on the fly due to availability, where with DAS, we knew for sure we'd be getting particular rides booked during each park vist every day.
Out harmonious day so we had a resort morning and stacked remy, tt and frozen in that order. I bought a LL for guardians and we can do filler rides and food and wine around them. Just hope the weather behaves.
My paid LL took over 20 mins this time. May as well have grabbed a boarding group.
My paid LL took over 20 mins this time. May as well have grabbed a boarding group.
Last edited:
Interesting. We paid the other day and it was 10 mins
EddieValiant
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2016
On Wednesday I did Animal Kingdom, 730 am early entry. I couldn't figure out a good day to go to AK this trip with that super early startm I did EPCOT on Monday and Studios on Tuesday. I was going to late MK hours so I knew I would be in no condition to get up on Thursday morning. Friday I wanted to rope drop MK because I knew it was a party day and it would be light crowds.
I just missed a bus from the Swan by less than a minute and it cost me. Still was in line for FOP at 755am before regular guests but it still took 60. Then after that the Safari line was pretty rough too, posted at 45 and it was at least that long. By that time it was pretty warm and all of the giraffes other than 1 we're off the savanna. There were still plenty of others around, got a great cheetah picture, and the lions were sleeping, but still visible. If you are a Safari junkie, maybe do the ILL. I did not use Genie Plus at Animal Kingdom.
I just missed a bus from the Swan by less than a minute and it cost me. Still was in line for FOP at 755am before regular guests but it still took 60. Then after that the Safari line was pretty rough too, posted at 45 and it was at least that long. By that time it was pretty warm and all of the giraffes other than 1 we're off the savanna. There were still plenty of others around, got a great cheetah picture, and the lions were sleeping, but still visible. If you are a Safari junkie, maybe do the ILL. I did not use Genie Plus at Animal Kingdom.
butterscotchcollins
Drop Chicken
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2019
I was on the fence about switching our MK day to Friday (party day) but based on the past page I’m gonna do it! This is the first trip with our infant so if we can get a lot done before he starts to get cranky I’ll be so happy.
sweetmama17
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2014
Just back from our 3rd weekend trip this year. According to the kids (7 and 9) "Best trip ever". We were able to do everything we wanted so that helped a lot. The 9 year old is about to have a birthday, so this trip was for him and to make sure he got his priority list done (which was all the "big" rides). Stayed at Swan due to low late August rates and just pure convenience.
Friday: Arrived at Swan around 5pm in the pouring rain. Decided to eat at Il Mulano to wait out the rain. I've never seen a restaurant try so hard at being fine dining but fail so miserably because every table had kids under 10 (didn't bother me but found it kinda funny). I'm sure the child friendly dining was done for later reservations.
It was still raining just enough by the time we walked to the Epcot gate we picked up ponchos. Headed to Soarin and then to guardians. Luckily they honored our boarding group almost 12 hours after it was called (got boarding group 3 and went about 8pm). Big kid wanted to try mission space so DH and him rode "green" for the first time. Stayed for the fireworks (but picked the worst spot ever.....do not stand behind the boat launch near Canada) and headed back.
Saturday: I debated but went ahead and got G+ for today. Little one has DAS pass but because I wanted to make sure big one got on all his rides some of which little one won't do I got it. I started with the big one by myself for early entry and the others joined us a little later...this is how it went:
Arrived at 7:45 at HS and got in line for slinky. Off slinky by 8:15
8: 15 RnR (early entry)
8:30 ToT (G+) (NOT needed, much different than our 45 min wait experience for ToT early entry in march)
8:45 repeat ToT since it was a walk on and rest of family not there yet. Check out shops while we wait.
9:30am rest of family comes and get DAS for Rise (about an hour and half wait at this point)
9:45 had TSM G+ but it was down so headed to Falcon with recovery G+ (saved about 30 min)
at some point also get a message that Rise is down so am able to select another DAS
Blue/green milk break
10:15am Alien swirl (G+) (15 min save)
10:30am: TSM (DAS)
10:45 Rise up so headed through....placed order for Docking Bay 7 right as we were walking on the ride.
Rise goes down right as we were the next group headed for the trackless portion. Kids want to wait so we sat down for about 45ish minutes. Was told it was a good sign that they didn't clear all of us out. Everyone glad that we stuck it out (CM Order did break character and offer to escort resistance to the restrooms ;-)
11:45: lunch, well our order had been thrown out at this point but Docking Bay was super nice and remade our order....lesson, don't say you are there unless you are really there!
12:30: Star Tours (DAS) and then lots of "looking" in the gift shop.
1pm Mickey (G+) pretty sure the ride went down because there was quite the extended wait right before we went into the theater but nothing was said. This G+ probably saved a good 45 min
1:45 Done with all the rides and ready to head back to the hotel to crash. Made another G+ for Magic Kingdom but never made it there.
Thought it was going to pour all afternoon but it never did so around 4pm we headed to the pool for a bit, ate at the poolside restaurant and then took on mini golf of Fantasia Gardens (boys loved this)
Sunday: MK
Got the closest parking spot ever to TTC about 7:45am. Took the ferry over (monorail doesn't open til 8).
Goal was to get big kid on Space. Almost bought G+ but took a chance and just used DAS. Most rides still had posted wait times of less than 30 minutes most of the day (including PP!) Bonus was little one was brave and tried a few new rides (honestly thanks to DAS or this would never have happened, lots of pixie dust for this special kiddo). This was by far the quietest weekend day I have ever seen at MK. Guess because there was a party but there was noticeably less people everywhere.
Early entry we did:
Space (x 2 with rider swap)
9: Astro orbiter (hate this line but agreed to it since buzz was down)
930: Buzz (10 min wait)
The rest of the day we had DAS pass for everything
Seven Mine train
Haunted Mansion
Peter Pan
Lunch at 11am (Plaza)
Tree House
Cavalcade
12: Thunder Mountain
1230: Splash Mountain
1pm: Pirates
130: Buzz (mainly to pick up Toy Story toys for the birthday kid)
2pm: Out heading back home!
So besides the suffocating heat/humidity and dodging thunderstorms, I love Disney in August! But I live in Florida, so am dealing with those everyday anyway...
Now kids are asking when are we coming back for Animal Kingdom....
Friday: Arrived at Swan around 5pm in the pouring rain. Decided to eat at Il Mulano to wait out the rain. I've never seen a restaurant try so hard at being fine dining but fail so miserably because every table had kids under 10 (didn't bother me but found it kinda funny). I'm sure the child friendly dining was done for later reservations.
It was still raining just enough by the time we walked to the Epcot gate we picked up ponchos. Headed to Soarin and then to guardians. Luckily they honored our boarding group almost 12 hours after it was called (got boarding group 3 and went about 8pm). Big kid wanted to try mission space so DH and him rode "green" for the first time. Stayed for the fireworks (but picked the worst spot ever.....do not stand behind the boat launch near Canada) and headed back.
Saturday: I debated but went ahead and got G+ for today. Little one has DAS pass but because I wanted to make sure big one got on all his rides some of which little one won't do I got it. I started with the big one by myself for early entry and the others joined us a little later...this is how it went:
Arrived at 7:45 at HS and got in line for slinky. Off slinky by 8:15
8: 15 RnR (early entry)
8:30 ToT (G+) (NOT needed, much different than our 45 min wait experience for ToT early entry in march)
8:45 repeat ToT since it was a walk on and rest of family not there yet. Check out shops while we wait.
9:30am rest of family comes and get DAS for Rise (about an hour and half wait at this point)
9:45 had TSM G+ but it was down so headed to Falcon with recovery G+ (saved about 30 min)
at some point also get a message that Rise is down so am able to select another DAS
Blue/green milk break
10:15am Alien swirl (G+) (15 min save)
10:30am: TSM (DAS)
10:45 Rise up so headed through....placed order for Docking Bay 7 right as we were walking on the ride.
Rise goes down right as we were the next group headed for the trackless portion. Kids want to wait so we sat down for about 45ish minutes. Was told it was a good sign that they didn't clear all of us out. Everyone glad that we stuck it out (CM Order did break character and offer to escort resistance to the restrooms ;-)
11:45: lunch, well our order had been thrown out at this point but Docking Bay was super nice and remade our order....lesson, don't say you are there unless you are really there!
12:30: Star Tours (DAS) and then lots of "looking" in the gift shop.
1pm Mickey (G+) pretty sure the ride went down because there was quite the extended wait right before we went into the theater but nothing was said. This G+ probably saved a good 45 min
1:45 Done with all the rides and ready to head back to the hotel to crash. Made another G+ for Magic Kingdom but never made it there.
Thought it was going to pour all afternoon but it never did so around 4pm we headed to the pool for a bit, ate at the poolside restaurant and then took on mini golf of Fantasia Gardens (boys loved this)
Sunday: MK
Got the closest parking spot ever to TTC about 7:45am. Took the ferry over (monorail doesn't open til 8).
Goal was to get big kid on Space. Almost bought G+ but took a chance and just used DAS. Most rides still had posted wait times of less than 30 minutes most of the day (including PP!) Bonus was little one was brave and tried a few new rides (honestly thanks to DAS or this would never have happened, lots of pixie dust for this special kiddo). This was by far the quietest weekend day I have ever seen at MK. Guess because there was a party but there was noticeably less people everywhere.
Early entry we did:
Space (x 2 with rider swap)
9: Astro orbiter (hate this line but agreed to it since buzz was down)
930: Buzz (10 min wait)
The rest of the day we had DAS pass for everything
Seven Mine train
Haunted Mansion
Peter Pan
Lunch at 11am (Plaza)
Tree House
Cavalcade
12: Thunder Mountain
1230: Splash Mountain
1pm: Pirates
130: Buzz (mainly to pick up Toy Story toys for the birthday kid)
2pm: Out heading back home!
So besides the suffocating heat/humidity and dodging thunderstorms, I love Disney in August! But I live in Florida, so am dealing with those everyday anyway...
Now kids are asking when are we coming back for Animal Kingdom....
lovethesun12
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2017
Well, at least mom/son trips are cheaper! LOLWrapping up our first family trip! This was my husband's & Bonus son's first Disney trip and my first one back since 2019.
I was hoping my husband would fall in love but it was the opposite
The kiddo on the other hand is over the moon! He doesn't ask for much, seeing him run around and be so engaged was heartwarming. We will definitely be doing mom/son trips!
.....
Rode Guardians and was blown out of the water. WOW, WHAT A RIDE!!
I was originally complaining about paying to ride but I immediately paid for a second LL as soon as we got off, well worth it. Hands down the best ride at DW IMO.
I felt the same way about GOTG. We did it 3 times as well (separate days), twice paid and once virtual queue. I absolutely loved it.
oceanmarina
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2004
Wrapping up our first family trip! This was my husband's & Bonus son's first Disney trip and my first one back since 2019.
I was hoping my husband would fall in love but it was the opposite
The kiddo on the other hand is over the moon! He doesn't ask for much, seeing him run around and be so engaged was heartwarming. We will definitely be doing mom/son trips!
Merchandise: if you see something you like, buy it! The shelves at MK were bare by 10 PM and a lot of merch wasn't available in certain locations. I saw the 50th mug once and regret not grabbing it.
Crowds: Not low by any means, We always visit in August and this is the busiest I've ever seen it. Still manageable though!
We mobile ordered every meal. This was a lifesaver with 8 of us! 3 people on 3 separate devices were able to order at the same time under my account with no issues.
We had DAS and Genie+.
I was under the impression that DAS only applied to the person in need and not the whole group. I was wrong, should've done my research. We did everything we wanted and more but you definitely don't need both.
Epcot:
Got a noon return time for Guardians at 7 am.
Rope dropped Ratatouille, Test track and Soarin. Rerode Ratatouille, Test track and Soarin via DAS. The DAS return times were almost immediate.
Rode Guardians and was blown out of the water. WOW, WHAT A RIDE!!
I was originally complaining about paying to ride but I immediately paid for a second LL as soon as we got off, well worth it. Hands down the best ride at DW IMO.
MK:
DAS: Buzz, Astro, 7 dwarfs X 2, peter pan, haunted mansion, pirates. DAS times were available as soon as i booked them.
Genie Stacked for the evening: Splash, Thunder mountain, jungle cruise & Ariel.
HS:
Last park day! Started stacking Genie at 7 am but didn't get into the park till 2. Got some much needed rest!
Genie: MMRR, saucers , Slinky, TOT, RR
DAS: return times varied from one to two hours after booking: ROTR, Muppets, MF, ST, TSM.
Yes to that. We’ve just gotten back (first stay since pre covid 2019) and the food was the worst we’ve ever had. Really bad. We were resorting to Grubhub throughout our trip.
We did a split stay at universal. (First time). Food was much better there - both in the parks / resorts/ citiwalk.
Neverbeast
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2017
melking23
I want adventure in the great wide somewhere!
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2018
Here now and it’s quite dead on our first park day! We went to AK this morning and walked on everything. I have DAS so used that for FOP while we waited for KJS to open. The return time was only 20 minutes at that point. I pre-purchased G+ so I booked KJS for 8AM and we tapped in 5 minutes early. We walked straight through and were on the first bus. We got to hear a hippo, a wildebeest, and a lion being vocal (even the guide was amazed)! After KJS we went to EE and walked on twice. Posted wait was 5 minutes. Then we watched a few characters pass by on boats when we were on our way to Dinosaur. Posted wait was also 5 minutes but we walked on. After that we went to FOP and tapped in. Posted wait was 75 minutes. We waited 5-10 minutes for pre-show. When we got off the posted wait was 60 minutes. Then we went to Navi for pre-booked DAS. Posted wait was 40 minutes but we walked straight through. We walked out of the park by 10:15AM to the buses. We waited 5 minutes for a bus to AKL for a 10:45AM Boma breakfast. We checked in at 10:30AM but wasn’t seated until 11:10AM. After our brunch we got an Uber To Swan for $10 and only waited 5 minutes. We were back in our room at 12:25PM and I was finally able to book a G+ for this evening in MK. I booked JC for 5:10. We have a reservation for Skipper Canteen at 6:30PM so wanted JC closer to the ADR. Almost all of the G+ return times were within 30 minutes so I had to keep checking back. Meet Mickey has the latest G+ available with JC and PP behind them. Last I looked PP was still at only 2:30 or so but we won’t get to MK until at least 5PM. When we get there I’ll use DAS for 7DMT. I’ll come back on tonight or tomorrow to detail how our night goes!
Share this page
GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
