Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[scrappinginontario]

Well if the internet says it who am I to disagree.

I don’t know when I’m there it deff feels us state folk are deff not the majority.

The parks have only been open to International visitors for less than a year yet they have been extremely busy much longer than that. Even now, some are ineligible to enter the US. While International visitors do enjoy going to WDW, there was not a huge uptick in visitors when the borders reopened in late 2021.

I am only 1 person but I will say many of my friends have currently changed their vacation strategies and are visiting our own country rather than travelling abroad. Some will return/go to Disney again but it’s no longer the travel draw destination it once was. Many just cannot justify/afford the cost of a Disney trip.

We used to visit 2-3 times a year for over 10 years. We have been once in the last year and do not have a Disney trip in the books which is unheard of for us who went 10 years always having 1 or 2 future WDW trips booked.

It may change but for now I agree that the majority of people visiting WDW are not international guests.

 

[VandVsmama]

Just back on Sat 10/8 from a week at WDW. Here are some highlights. Will post a trip report in the trip reports forum later on.

1. Airport transportation: Use FL Tours, which the Dis recommends. Top notch service. We had multiple flight issues getting TO Orlando and FL Tours was very accommodating. Very professional. Would totally use them again.
2. Halloween was SUPPOSED to go to Halloween party on 10/2, but totally missed it because of flight problems. We were SUPPOSED to arrive at MCO on 10/1, but due to the hurricane, I changed our flights to Sunday and then we were going to miss our connecting flight, so Southwest moved us to another direct flight that didn't arrive at MCO until 11 pm Eastern time. Had a sobbing cry about it in one corner of the Phoenix airport about it. CM Kristen from upstate NY in Guest Relations at HS got our party tickets switched to Tues, 10/4. Then I cried happy tears. Put in a CM compliment in the WDW app for CM Kristen. She was great. Halloween party was totally worth the $$ we spent on the tickets. Walked almost straight onto rides. Handfuls of candy...our treat bags were totally full after 4 hr. Didn't make it into the party until just before 8 pm. We all dressed up as a Star Wars theme, with the exception of DH, who didn't dress up but wore a name tag that said, "Hello, my name is: The only responsible adult." Got lots of laughs and comments from that.
3. Audio descriptive device for the blind: 1 of our friends who went w/us on the trip is totally blind, so we tried this out on our 1st park day (Mon 10/3). He turned it back in about mid-afternoon, said that the descriptions were just ok and not all that great compared to descriptions on TV shows and movies. So for rest of the trip, DH, I, or 1 of our kids would sit next to blind friend and we'd give descriptions to him (not loud, just loud enough for friend to hear).
4. Weather: expected highs in upper 80s, but highs were around 82-83 almost the entire time. Much lower humidity than on our trips in early June. That being said, I was still sweating a lot but I'm from AZ and we have, like, no humidity by comparison.
5. CMs: totally on the "A" game. Especially at check in at AoA, where we checked in after midnight on 10/2. CM Joe was so great even in the middle of the night. It was a great introduction to Disney service for our friends who've never been to WDW.
6. Trader Sam's: tried to go there last Thurs at 4 pm & wait was 2 hr. I had a quiet temper tantrum about that by myself away from everybody. Blind friend's wife saved the day and went over to the Tiki Terrace and ordered 2 of the Nautilus drinks for us 4 adults (1 serves 2 people). So didn't get to hang out inside Trader Sam's but we got the prizes anyway.
7. Captain Cook's: we all liked the QS food here.
8. AoA Cars family suite: plenty of room for the 6 of us, which were 4 adults (2 married couples) & 2 grown-up-sized teenage girls. Having the microwave was handy. Loved the Cozy Cone pool with the little "cabanas" shaped like traffic cones. Blind friend & his wife stayed in the master BR, said that the mattress on that bed was amazing. Skyliner access to HS & Epcot was great. FYI - there's no longer any bus service from AoA to Epcot. It's only Skyliner now.
9. This trip was a reminder of why I don't like being in the theme parks between 1-5 pm. Honestly, it wasn't really THAT bad, but after a few days of dodging people, we all just got tired of playing bumper cars with people and strollers and scooters. Really needed to start our days out early like we normally do, but the late night arrival followed by not getting back from the Halloween party until 1:15 am the following day resulted in sleeping being "off" the rest of the week.
10. YDD was frustrated by lack of decent selections right now for Star Wars sweatshirts/hoodies.
11. My kids, blind friend & his wife loved GOTG ride at Epcot. I went on it, too, but felt very ill afterwards. Needed about 10 min to rest after before I could go anywhere. Didn't feel right until about an hour after the ride. Kids & our friends loved it. YDD said it was like being IN the movie. I'm not ever going on it again, but am totally willing to get up early in order to get a virtual boarding group so my kids can go on it during the next trip.
12. Cinderella's Royal Table: reservation was at 7:20 pm on Wed, but they were running a little behind schedule, so didn't get seated until about 30 min later. That was ok, because we ended up being IN the castle while fireworks went off. That was pretty great. CM at reception said that most guests end up very frustrated when they can't be done w/the meal before fireworks. I told the CM that I've always thought it would be neat to be in the restaurant watching the fireworks go off outside the castle windows. Food was decent. Desserts were not a big hit for most of us. This was a 'one and done' for us. Bucket list thing for blind friend's wife, who LOVES Cinderella. Glad we did this.
13. Primo Piatto: ate here 3-4 times. DH loves the food here. Easy to get to with Skyliner from AoA. DH thinks that every WDW resort should serve food like Primo Piatto has. We all decided that we'd like to stay at Riviera some day. Very relaxing and elegant resort.
14. Ride wait times: I considered them long, but your mileage may vary. Used DAS the entire time because blind friend also has a bad leg injury from car accident years ago...had his entire ankle replaced and he really needed DAS for this trip. We were all linked together on each others' WDW app accounts, so once we got blind friend set up w/DAS, any of the rest of us could book the next DAS return time on our phones. That was convenient. Tried to set up DAS from home ahead of time, but that never worked out because the queue was too long and then we received an automated message that they couldn't help us...made sense because the hurricane stuff was going on at the time. At one point, wait time for 7DMT was 170 minutes. Pretty crazy. Jungle Cruise pretty consistently 60 min or more all day long...at DL, we've never waited that long for Jungle Cruise.
15. HM & live performers: we never saw them on the Halloween party night. Did see live performers inside POTC, though...that was cool & fun.
16. LOTS of people from the South at WDW last week.
17. LOTS of large family groups with everybody wearing matching shirts. For our Disneylander friends, seeing that was pretty amusing. We started to joke about how nobody at WDW knows who they are or what family they're with because they all have to wear clothing that states their name and/or role.
18. Skipper Canteen: ate here last Fri for a late lunch. We like this restaurant since YDD loves Jungle Cruise. When you're inside, you can't hear any of the commotion from elsewhere in Adventureland. It was a nice reprieve from everything. The lime panna cotta was really good. Blind friend's wife has celiac disease and has to eat gluten free...this dessert is gluten free. She said it was really excellent. She also was impressed with how WDW handles food allergies...all of the CMs taking her order took the food allergy seriously.
19. Voices of Liberty: I made everybody listen to 1 of their performances. Voices of Liberty always makes me cry and it happened this time, too. The American Adventure attraction in that same building is still closed/under refurb.
20. Didn't have time or energy to battle the horde at Epcot for fall food & wine booths. On Tuesday afternoon at Epcot, there was a massive line about 45 min long in France for people to just buy stuff at the cheese booth.
21. Refillable drink mugs: only option are the 50th anniversary ones. They no longer have the $29.99 Star Wars ones. Still worth it to purchase these, saved us money on drinks throughout the trip.
22. Pizza Ponte at DS: ate here for dinner on Fri night. Placed was MOBBED. Blind friend said that their pizza tasted like the pizza his Italian grandmother used to make when he was a kid. Heard about this place from 1 of the Dis dining review videos on Youtube...Ryno & Big Fat Panda, I believe, were reviewing this place. Glad I watched that video because going there was totally worth it. QS only and it's a limited menu, but food is really good quality for the price, in my opinion.

 

[cdurham1]

Staying on Disney property.10am alarm set this morning. Instead, woke up in cold sweat at 5am from nightmare. Nightmare was somehow owed a bookie 100k if I can't complete our specific touring plan today.

1. Is this just the nightmare that Disney trips inspire now?
2. Is this a Disney nightmare or a gambling nightmare?
3. Is there a market for such bets?

 

[NavyDad]

Thank you for your post. I will be going down on the 22nd and i plan to just take my time and enjoy myself. We are there for two weeks with our 1 year old with some family also joining.

I’m in the mindset that this is all because of ‘revenge vacationing’ and people who had trips in 2020 are making up for it now or have credits to use. I’m thankful for my trip in March 2020 that ended a day before everything shut down!

We try to go every other year and hoping in 2024 things are closer to normal.

I think there is something to the "revenge vacationing" but at some point we can't blame that anymore. In a couple of short months it will be 2023.

The fact is there was a long term trend pre-covid of increased attendance. Obviously there was a drop off with a global pandemic and all the restrictions with that but everything we are seeing indicates that demand to visit WDW is still incredibly strong. There are always predictions on these boards that people are going to get mad about price increases, cuts in services and large crowds which will lead demand to drop and ultimately for WDW to lower prices or offer steep discounts but I'm not at all convinced we see that any time soon.

 

[NavyDad]

Not surprised, we thought the same thing in March but we go so often that we have only a set of must-dos and we have plenty of time to accomplish them. We like going in the evenings and rope drop, the middle of the day is usually reserved for the resort and just hanging out in general. If you ever see a family sitting at a table with drinks and snacks and playing Rummy, that is us just letting crowds thin out a bit and relaxing! LOL
We head back in 15 days and are spending the first week just relaxing at the resort, doing a Monorail crawl, Segway tour and the like.

This has been our strategy for many years now on most of our trips. Enjoy the parks the first 3 hours of the day and the last 3 hours of the day. Relax in the middle of the day. Eat lunch at another resort, go swimming, take naps and then get ready to go back out at night. The temps are cooler and the crowds are thinner.

 

[ScarletFire]

About international visitors....

We traveled to Disney mid-August and there was a British invasion! Typhoon Lagoon was mobbed with Brits!! I recall commenting to DH that without the Brits, attendance would be much lower at the parks.

I for one love to see international visitors. I understand Europe is in a recession. Air travel prices are high. I don't think the Japanese visitors have made a comeback. So yeah, there must've been a special for British citizens as there sometimes is.

We are returning to Disney this coming weekend! We are driving and staying at the campground with our little camper. I've been traveling to WDW since 1971. The resort prices are astronomical compared to pre-pandemic! A campsite is not inexpensive relative to state park campsites but Fort Wilderness is one of a kind. And still a bargain IMO.

I'll post when we return.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

This has been our strategy for many years now on most of our trips. Enjoy the parks the first 3 hours of the day and the last 3 hours of the day. Relax in the middle of the day. Eat lunch at another resort, go swimming, take naps and then get ready to go back out at night. The temps are cooler and the crowds are thinner.

Yessss, exactly and it works out just fine!!!

 

[LSUmiss]

Anyone know if yon can shop at the emporium at 6pm on the way out on party days?

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Anyone know if yon can shop at the emporium at 6pm on the way out on party days?

would not plan on it as if I remember correctly they put out some special stuff but do not know for sure

 

[only hope]

About international visitors....

We traveled to Disney mid-August and there was a British invasion! Typhoon Lagoon was mobbed with Brits!! I recall commenting to DH that without the Brits, attendance would be much lower at the parks.

I for one love to see international visitors. I understand Europe is in a recession. Air travel prices are high. I don't think the Japanese visitors have made a comeback. So yeah, there must've been a special for British citizens as there sometimes is.

We are returning to Disney this coming weekend! We are driving and staying at the campground with our little camper. I've been traveling to WDW since 1971. The resort prices are astronomical compared to pre-pandemic! A campsite is not inexpensive relative to state park campsites but Fort Wilderness is one of a kind. And still a bargain IMO.

I'll post when we return.

I think it was the first summer without extensive Covid restrictions on travel from the UK and in the UK you can’t pull your children out of school for a vacation so it makes sense there would’ve been a lot of visitors from there at that time.

 

[boogienights]

I have to say that USO was heaven in comparison to WDW. We stayed at RPR for EP and didn't wait for more than 25 minutes for anything (usually much less). The routine: We did EE at IOA for Hagrid and VC, getting to the gate at 7am. After that we would do a few more rides in IOA, hop to US for more rides, lunch at Citywalk and then return to the hotel for pool time at around 2. We returned to IOA at 6 for more rides and then a late dinner at citywalk (on Friday we just had a really big late lunch and then snacks instead of dinner because we wanted to do VC at night, getting in line at park close, waited 50 min). Saturday was IOA/US in the morning before crowds picked up, VB in the afternoon and then dinner offsite at King Cajun Crawfish (sooooo good). Sunday was EE at VB and then the boys relaxed at the hotel pool while the girls went to a movie. We left Monday. Even when crowds picked up on Saturday, it was far more bearable than WDW because there were still fewer people and so few strollers and ECVs to navigate. The girls will be returning Jan 2026 for a week to see the new park. We'll stay at RPR again and avoid WDW like the plague.

 

[Disney.fan]

For those of you in the parks this week, are you finding long waits with Lighting Lane?

 

[DCLMP]

A USA recession won't change cloud levels. Non USA travels prob outnumber us 3-1 or more.

I haven't been there since the June before COVID. Nov is our return to the land. Before COVID we did 2-3 trips for 20 years plus. Oh I have seen how it's changed.

You do realize that the economic conditions in Europe are worse then ours, not to mention the exchange rate is not favorable for any country right now. International travelers will not be an issue.

 

[Dotluvsdisney]

We love Universal too but, after going several times over an 18 month period, we got bored. The hotel prices are higher than what we have been able to get for DVC rentals and we love the DVC resorts. So much more to do and see. Back to Disney for us!

 

[cdurham1]

For those of you in the parks this week, are you finding long waits with Lighting Lane?

Was at Disney last Monday thru yesterday. Biggest crowds of 2022, easily. It was Fall Break for a lot of schools and there also seemed to be a strong international presence. The weather was nice and we still had fun. Lines were pretty outrageous at times.

Sitting at the pool today, going to Universal Monday and Tuesday. We will have Express Passes. Spent weeks planning Disney visit. Nice to just show up at Universal with Express Passes and not have to have an elaborate plan

 

[taythecray]

Here now for our Hollywood Studios day. Knocked out all of Galaxy's Edge by 9am thanks to early entry, but Tower of Terror has been 90+ since 10am. After waiting 85, the ride went down, and we were forced to leave due to a dining reservation. Now it's been consistent 130 since it came back up. Even Rise is only 65!! Weird crowds....

 

[cdurham1]

Here now for our Hollywood Studios day. Knocked out all of Galaxy's Edge by 9am thanks to early entry, but Tower of Terror has been 90+ since 10am. After waiting 85, the ride went down, and we were forced to leave due to a dining reservation. Now it's been consistent 130 since it came back up. Even Rise is only 65!! Weird crowds....

Yeah, we were there twice this week and noticed one time the wait for Rock N Roller Coaster was 90 minutes and Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway was 10.

 

[jkw4afh]

Just got back last night from a week long trip. We are seasoned Disney vacationers and truly love being there. Here are a few of my observations -- glad to answer any questions you may have if you have an upcoming trip:

--Stayed at Beach Club all 7 nights. CMs were always helpful, pleasant, and relaxed. Our room was smaller this time (only 2 queen beds and no sleeper/couch. Our party was my wife and I and our two teen kids, so it wasn't a major issue. Large balcony was nice. There were some cobwebs in the corners of the room, but nothing we couldn't quickly take care of ourselves. We're not folks that get bent out of shape about those kinds of things.

--Parks were definitely the most crowded we've ever seen them. Especially Magic Kingdom. We would recommend going on party days...the lines seemed a bit shorter those days. Epcot and Animal Kingdom were easy to navigate even though many were there.

--We had park hoppers this time and while it made for LOTS of walking (64 miles in total for the week!), we were able to accomplish everything we wanted to do (and usually multiple times). Our strategy was typically to rope drop most mornings, take an afternoon break (had to take advantage of Stormalong Bay!), and then go to another park at night.

--We bought Genie+ just 2 days, and we were VERY glad we did. It helped immensely on the very busiest nights. I would highly recommend purchasing it if you are going to MK or HS. We found that we didn't need it for AK or EP...even on a very busy week.

--Transportation was not an issue except for one morning. We were trying to rope drop HS to hit RotR...but our boat was late, and they started letting people into the park before our boat made it there. That was a bummer, but it was our second time to go to HS that week, so we took it with a grain of salt. Buses and boats were timely the rest of the week.

--BY ALL MEANS, get to Guardians of the Galaxy!!! Undoubtedly the highlight of the trip and among our entire party of 8, it is now our favorite attraction of all 4 parks. The boarding groups were all gone within 2 seconds each drop, but if you do some research, there are some tricks to securing one. I'm glad to help you know what we did...we were able to snag a BG each time we tried (4x). OUTSTANDING RIDE...KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!

--F&W Festival...fun as always! And the Harmonious is spectacular imo.

--As many others have noted, no--it's not the same Disney. There is some pixie dust missing for sure. And it is kind of amazing how much we now have to pay for that used to be free (Magical Express, Fastpasses, MagicBands). But it's still a wonderful place, filled with family, friends, and fun. We are so grateful we get to visit...when so many others never get the chance. Thanks to all who help provide details and info on these boards. I don't post much, but read a lot...and have found it so helpful.

If you have a trip coming up...I hope you have a FANTASTIC voyage!

 

[Ricguz]

Just got back last night from a week long trip. We are seasoned Disney vacationers and truly love being there. Here are a few of my observations -- glad to answer any questions you may have if you have an upcoming trip:

--Stayed at Beach Club all 7 nights. CMs were always helpful, pleasant, and relaxed. Our room was smaller this time (only 2 queen beds and no sleeper/couch. Our party was my wife and I and our two teen kids, so it wasn't a major issue. Large balcony was nice. There were some cobwebs in the corners of the room, but nothing we couldn't quickly take care of ourselves. We're not folks that get bent out of shape about those kinds of things.

--Parks were definitely the most crowded we've ever seen them. Especially Magic Kingdom. We would recommend going on party days...the lines seemed a bit shorter those days. Epcot and Animal Kingdom were easy to navigate even though many were there.

--We had park hoppers this time and while it made for LOTS of walking (64 miles in total for the week!), we were able to accomplish everything we wanted to do (and usually multiple times). Our strategy was typically to rope drop most mornings, take an afternoon break (had to take advantage of Stormalong Bay!), and then go to another park at night.

--We bought Genie+ just 2 days, and we were VERY glad we did. It helped immensely on the very busiest nights. I would highly recommend purchasing it if you are going to MK or HS. We found that we didn't need it for AK or EP...even on a very busy week.

--Transportation was not an issue except for one morning. We were trying to rope drop HS to hit RotR...but our boat was late, and they started letting people into the park before our boat made it there. That was a bummer, but it was our second time to go to HS that week, so we took it with a grain of salt. Buses and boats were timely the rest of the week.

--BY ALL MEANS, get to Guardians of the Galaxy!!! Undoubtedly the highlight of the trip and among our entire party of 8, it is now our favorite attraction of all 4 parks. The boarding groups were all gone within 2 seconds each drop, but if you do some research, there are some tricks to securing one. I'm glad to help you know what we did...we were able to snag a BG each time we tried (4x). OUTSTANDING RIDE...KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!

--F&W Festival...fun as always! And the Harmonious is spectacular imo.

--As many others have noted, no--it's not the same Disney. There is some pixie dust missing for sure. And it is kind of amazing how much we now have to pay for that used to be free (Magical Express, Fastpasses, MagicBands). But it's still a wonderful place, filled with family, friends, and fun. We are so grateful we get to visit...when so many others never get the chance. Thanks to all who help provide details and info on these boards. I don't post much, but read a lot...and have found it so helpful.

If you have a trip coming up...I hope you have a FANTASTIC voyage!

Thanks for the update. Will be there in 49 days.

 

[Boardwalk III]

Just got back last night from a week long trip. We are seasoned Disney vacationers and truly love being there. Here are a few of my observations -- glad to answer any questions you may have if you have an upcoming trip:

--Stayed at Beach Club all 7 nights. CMs were always helpful, pleasant, and relaxed. Our room was smaller this time (only 2 queen beds and no sleeper/couch. Our party was my wife and I and our two teen kids, so it wasn't a major issue. Large balcony was nice. There were some cobwebs in the corners of the room, but nothing we couldn't quickly take care of ourselves. We're not folks that get bent out of shape about those kinds of things.

--Parks were definitely the most crowded we've ever seen them. Especially Magic Kingdom. We would recommend going on party days...the lines seemed a bit shorter those days. Epcot and Animal Kingdom were easy to navigate even though many were there.

--We had park hoppers this time and while it made for LOTS of walking (64 miles in total for the week!), we were able to accomplish everything we wanted to do (and usually multiple times). Our strategy was typically to rope drop most mornings, take an afternoon break (had to take advantage of Stormalong Bay!), and then go to another park at night.

--We bought Genie+ just 2 days, and we were VERY glad we did. It helped immensely on the very busiest nights. I would highly recommend purchasing it if you are going to MK or HS. We found that we didn't need it for AK or EP...even on a very busy week.

--Transportation was not an issue except for one morning. We were trying to rope drop HS to hit RotR...but our boat was late, and they started letting people into the park before our boat made it there. That was a bummer, but it was our second time to go to HS that week, so we took it with a grain of salt. Buses and boats were timely the rest of the week.

--BY ALL MEANS, get to Guardians of the Galaxy!!! Undoubtedly the highlight of the trip and among our entire party of 8, it is now our favorite attraction of all 4 parks. The boarding groups were all gone within 2 seconds each drop, but if you do some research, there are some tricks to securing one. I'm glad to help you know what we did...we were able to snag a BG each time we tried (4x). OUTSTANDING RIDE...KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!

--F&W Festival...fun as always! And the Harmonious is spectacular imo.

--As many others have noted, no--it's not the same Disney. There is some pixie dust missing for sure. And it is kind of amazing how much we now have to pay for that used to be free (Magical Express, Fastpasses, MagicBands). But it's still a wonderful place, filled with family, friends, and fun. We are so grateful we get to visit...when so many others never get the chance. Thanks to all who help provide details and info on these boards. I don't post much, but read a lot...and have found it so helpful.

If you have a trip coming up...I hope you have a FANTASTIC voyage!

Thanks for the overview. Fly down from Boston Wednesday night with a friend for a girls weekend. I always stay at Boardwalk but this trip will be at VGF in the new Resort Studios. Looking forward to a more relaxed time than normal (we’ll do parks daily but no commando marathon days Pool time, and monorail pub crawl also on our list