Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[dizneedoll]

I am a lifelong floridian - been here 40+ years and I genuinely don't know how all you guys do it - I could not spend 5 minutes in the park during a Florida summer. And anyone that can actually remain patient and civil to their travel companions/families and to others when visiting at this time is a saint in my book! You are made of much stronger stuff than I am.
I hide in AC from June to Oct.

I will only go in Dec or Jan. I don't know how people can do it that heat. But I can't tolerate heat well and get nauseated with a bad headache. More power to those who can handle it!

 

[bluezy]

That's a very good point! I live 1000 miles north of Disney and I too spend summer in the AC at home, but then I go and book 2 weeks at Disney in August. It makes no sense but I can't go a full 5 months without some Disney!

I'm the same way. We live in the northeast but I spend most of the summer in the house in the AC. But we go to Disney in June every year or two and I somehow manage to survive the FL heat.

 

[leiaorgana]

We’ve been here since the 18th June (leaving on the 9th July) and have definitely noticed an uptick in how crowded the parks are getting now compared to last week and how self-centred/rude other guests are. The tour groups have returned in full force this week after not really having to deal with them last year and a lot of them are acting like they’re the only ones at the parks, which is annoying. Combined with the heat (we come this time every year for over 15+ years so know what to expect but it just seems hotter this year for some reason) and them clearly overselling Genie +/LL, as a DAS user yesterday at DHS and MK today was pretty miserable ngl with how long the lines were at some attractions. They were having problems with HM this morning and only allowing small groups into the stretching room at a time and then we still walked out into the loading area being backed up all of the way to the stretching room doors. The ride broke down twice when we were on it and what should have been a 10 minute wait with all of the delays turned into a 40 minute experience. CMs have mostly been great but the torrential rain a few nights back has ruined some of our evening plans. Anyway, about to head to California Grill soon but just thought I’d add to the convo.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

We’ve been here since the 18th June (leaving on the 9th July) and have definitely noticed an uptick in how crowded the parks are getting now compared to last week and how self-centred/rude other guests are. The tour groups have returned in full force this week after not really having to deal with them last year and a lot of them are acting like they’re the only ones at the parks, which is annoying. Combined with the heat (we come this time every year for over 15+ years so know what to expect but it just seems hotter this year for some reason) and them clearly overselling Genie +/LL, as a DAS user yesterday at DHS and MK today was pretty miserable ngl with how long the lines were at some attractions. They were having problems with HM this morning and only allowing small groups into the stretching room at a time and then we still walked out into the loading area being backed up all of the way to the stretching room doors. The ride broke down twice when we were on it and what should have been a 10 minute wait with all of the delays turned into a 40 minute experience. CMs have mostly been great but the torrential rain a few nights back has ruined some of our evening plans. Anyway, about to head to California Grill soon but just thought I’d add to the convo.

We're coming in on Monday and absolutely none of what you said made me feel good lol.

 

[disneyfan123]

MK was surprisingly quiet today, I was rather shocked at how empty the walkways were. Lots of space to navigate, even the hub was unusually empty. It was hot but not as bad as I thought it would be. Growing up in eastern Ontario with really humid summers prepared me, I guess?

Wait times for most rides were short. We used DAS but other than 7DMT, we probably didn’t need to. Hoping the rest of the week is like this because today was a great day!

 

[NashvilleMama]

We’ve been here since the 18th June (leaving on the 9th July) and have definitely noticed an uptick in how crowded the parks are getting now compared to last week and how self-centred/rude other guests are. The tour groupshave returned in full force this week after not really having to deal with them last year and a lot of them are acting like they’re the only ones at the parks, which is annoying. Combined with the heat (we come this time every year for over 15+ years so know what to expect but it just seems hotter this year for some reason) and them clearly overselling Genie +/LL, as a DAS user yesterday at DHS and MK today was pretty miserable ngl with how long the lines were at some attractions. They were having problems with HM this morning and only allowing small groups into the stretching room at a time and then we still walked out into the loading area being backed up all of the way to the stretching room doors. The ride broke down twice when we were on it and what should have been a 10 minute wait with all of the delays turned into a 40 minute experience. CMs have mostly been great but the torrential rain a few nights back has ruined some of our evening plans. Anyway, about to head to California Grill soon but just thought I’d add to the convo.

We've had such an opposite experience - quick weekend trip and today did AK, Epcot, and MK and kept saying all day "where is everyone?" We got to AK at 9:15 and went straight to our ILL at FOP and there was *no one* in the standby line, despite it saying 85 mins. We didn't pass a soul until we were well inside which is just nuts compared to what we've been used to seeing the last few trips. Walked up to Yak & Yeti at 11am and got seated with no ADR. Epcot was just a quick (stifling hot) breeze around the world for us, but there were no waits at any of the food/drink booths - on a Friday afternoon? And then at MK, we could pick literally any G+ we wanted for a real-time LL with very few exceptions (PP, Space was a short bit out, Jungle Cruise, but nothing by much.) We had our own boat on Pirates!

Maybe it's the heat? But we were here the last two years on this same weekend and did NOT have this experience.

The heat is, as has been said, absolutely beyond brutal. It's intolerable and dangerous and I saw a few people I was worried about, especially elders. My UV umbrella has saved me and I can't believe more people aren't carrying them yet as it's the difference in walking on the surface of the sun and walking in the shade - easily a 20 degree "feel" swing.

PS: I was really expecting to be disappointed by Tron after reading all the criticism on here the last few months but my family all LOVED IT. It didn't feel too short at all and riding at night was just so, so cool. The locker system is genius. Only criticism is feeling like I was straining my neck trying to look around at everything (there's not that much to look at) and need to figure out if I was just too hunched over.

PPS Sorry this was really long for a quick recap!

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

I’m so confused. Did the heat absolutely zap everyone today? I had to work today so we couldn’t take the Highway in the sky to Hollywood Studios until 6:30 and it was almost like a free After Hours event. Rise had a 35 min wait (that was prob inflated but I can’t say for sure bc we used DAS), Midway Mania 10 min, walked right onto Smuggler’s Run and Star Tours. I can’t believe it’s the Saturday of a holiday weekend.

 

[katyringo]

I'm back to write about a couple of last things.

For those talking about the Heat. Yes. The Heat in MK on 6.28.23 was real. I caved and bought one of those mickey cooling towels and honestly it made a big difference. I also gave up the ears for a hat. We also ended up taking a longer break than usual. I honestly don't see up ever coming back in the summer. We had a wonderful trip and did everything on our bucket list, but that heat was absolutely draining and killed our stamina quickly. just to give it perspective. We used early entry to run to space mountain. By the time we had waited for early entry to start we were SO hot. We rode space and then proceeded to grab food, a drink and rode....the poeple mover..lol!

We were able to ride tron 3x on our MK using all our eligible VQ's and an ILL. We ran into broken rides twice but were able to come back with converted LL's. We had really good interactions with cast members.


I felt I had a successful MK day using Genie +. I will say refresh never worked for me. My 7am booking went like this:
Tron VQ group 100
Tron ILL for 9am
Mine Train ILL for 11am
Thunder mountain for 1030

After we rode thunder, I booked peter pan for an evening time. The heat was really hitting us so after we did our morning rides and watched friendship fair and the parade, we took a break. while on break we watched for Tron VQ return to be called (it was called around 4pm) and I stacked haunted mansion and pirates. We could have done more rides but honestly.. Its hard to run the park in the heat. You can read above about how our night ended with storms, delayed HEA and magic!

So in our one day at MK in the heat we did:
Tron 3x (VQ and ILL)
space (standby rope drop)
SDMT ILL
BTM LL
peter pan LL
mansion LL
pirates LL
people mover
Saw the parade- we watched right by peco bills where is starts.
Mickey's friendship fair- 1030 am show right in front of castle.
HEA - we found spots around 8pm by the partner statue.
Ate at Casey's- mobile order
Ate at Peco bills- mobile order
Ate at Columbia harbor house- mobile order
dole whip
cold brew float at auntie gravity
breakfast bowel and lunching pad was a great surprise! - mobile order.
Waffle at sleepy hollow- mobile order

And on the way out I bought an apple and popcorn and goodies at the confectionary.

 

[katyringo]

Our last day was not a park day. We slept in a bit. I wanted to resort hop a bit and check out and grab a meal at the Polly. We originally were not planning on any dinning reservations this trip. I always buy a Disney gift card for our food expenses. We still had a chunk left on the card so on a whim I checked to see what dinning reservations I could find for breakfast and BOOM! I scored Ohana! I was so excited! We packed up our stuff to check out and left it will bell hop. We took an Uber form Shades of Green to the Polly because the walkway is closed now. We could have taken the bus from shaded to the TTC to the polly, but I wasn't in the mood. I had to show my dinning reservation to the polly gate to let our uber in.

We got to the polly about an hour before our 11am reservation. I enjoyed looking around and checking it out! staying there isn't in my current reality lol! We found some goodies at the shop there we had not been able to find in the parks! I found a fantasmic magic band + that I will save for a future trip, the dole whip candle and a t-shirt I had wanted but had not found in the parks.

Ohana was fabulous. That pineapple ham is amazing. Had one of the best character interactions ever with Mickey. He gave me a hug while hubby took pictures and I told mickey he would need to sneak over to give my husband a hug and mickey took it literally and creeped really slow over to give him a hug. it was so funny! Our anniversary is 6.26 so we took a selfie with experiment 626! great way to end the trip.

We then took the monorail to the contemporary and grand flo. I stopped in at the Basin store and got some bath bombs. We then headed back to shades and then off to the airport.

What we learned this trip:

While the extended evening hours perk is great- Shades isn't for us. It wasn't bad and for folks who love it, I am happy for them. But I missed the Disney resort vibe and direct transportation. I've stayed at movies and pop before and prefer them to shades. If the walkway was still open, I might have felt differently. It doesn't matter that its so close to MK when you have to go to the TTC anyway. The dining options were also not great for our schedule and how we do the parks. I don't want to walk across the resort during our break to find food and they only have one option open from 2-5pm. I also missed being able to mobile order at the resort.

The summer heat isn't our Jam.

We aren't as young anymore. Aha! I think our days of flying in and immediately hitting the parks are over. We both agree now we need arrival day to be more chill...

We still don't think park hoppers are worth it for us and the way we do the parks.

MK really needs two days. This trip was a quick trip on purpose, but our next trip is to bring the kids for a week during holiday time. Hopefully 2024. I'm trying to figure out the budget and would like to do 5 park days and a day for the Christmas party... but not sure I can swing it.

 

[JFox]

We left Yacht Club yesterday and also learned what SMA was.

Same as usual park hours thankfully! We just ran into a couple CM’s confused on the process. You book via the app per usual although many rides you won’t even need it. When we did MK the only ride we needed it on was 7DMT.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/f...lities/attractions-available-for-das-advance/

I didn't think 7DMT was a bookable attraction using DAS. Or is it just not available for the pre arrival selections?

 

[dizneedoll]

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/f...lities/attractions-available-for-das-advance/

I didn't think 7DMT was a bookable attraction using DAS. Or is it just not available for the pre arrival selections?

7DMT is bookable with DAS. Any attraction with a wait time can be used with DAS. It is not bookable as a pre-selection attraction when you register for DAS via the online chat, but you can definitely book it day of through the app.

 

[JFox]

7DMT is bookable with DAS. Any attraction with a wait time can be used with DAS. It is not bookable as a pre-selection attraction when you register for DAS via the online chat, but you can definitely book it day of through the app.

Thank you!!

 

[UpstateMick]

We just finished a 7 night off-site trip. I am an annual pass holder but my wife and daughter are not, so we purchased after-hours tickets and a 2-day hopper for them. Most of their days were spent at the pool. I park-hop and resort-hop on my own at my own pace, so I duck in and out of the heat when I need it, as I am not there for big rides, mostly just enjoying shows, resorts, and ambience. My daughter is in college now, so she cannot come with us during our Presidents Week in February (which is MUCH more enjoyable weather-wise). The week went well for us, but we are going to rent a car next June as Lyfts became more expensive and less reliable vs. last year. We enjoyed Kona and Boma for breakfast, and loved Art Smiths, a perennial favorite. We are done with Edison. 2nd trip with poor quality food. Tusker House was also a MAJOR disappointment. I don’t know if we just hit it on a bad day, but the buffet was very average, the service was poor, and it took us over 90 minutes to see all of the characters. Characters aren’t a priority for us, but many families were frustrated with the wait. And what is up with the new dining tables IN the buffet area? Just plain weird! Park hopping at 2:00 is still difficult, and we are counting the days until the reservation system is adjusted in January. We used Genie+ on two days. Both days went well, as I stacked all the headliners at MK for both nights we went. As mentioned , we did HS and EPCOT after-hours. HS was awesome, EPCOT was average. Would not do EPCOT again. Overall, DisneyWorld is still an enjoyable time for my family, but the behaviors of many people is simply so poor. We don’t look for bad behavior, but everywhere we went, we just could not get away from it. From line skipping to loud, verbal complaints to large groups of people just overtaking rides, restaurants, quick-service and snack stands. I know it is a sign of the times, but my gosh, what a different experience! The heat certainly did not help, but it was strange to see so many large groups of 20 something’s in the park just treating it like a local bar. This was in all of the parks, not just EPCOT which we often expect.

 

[disneyfan123]

Another quiet day at WDW; Magic Kingdom was not too busy this morning, and HS was almost empty when we went this evening. I mean it was almost like our After Hours event empty. We had an amazing dinner at Jiko (the wild boar appetizer may be the best thing I've ever eaten!) and then went to HS to finish off our night. We arrived around 7pm, road MMRR (35 min wait), and then used our DAS for ROTR, MFSR, and then ROTR again. Even if we didn't have DAS, we probably could have done 3 of those 4 rides within the 2 hrs we were there. MFSR had almost no wait - posted 20 minutes but it was way shorter than that (we waited longer than that at our AH event!), and Rise was practically a walk on, even at 8pm. When we did it for the second time, just before closing, it was definitely a walk on. I was expecting huge crowds for the 4th of July week, but I am pleasantly surprised with how quiet the parks are; seems like the old days about 10-15 years ago, when there were actually slow times at WDW!

 

[bdthebrave]

Epcot was crazy slow today too. Remy and Soarin were basically at 10-20 minutes all day, and the longest wait I saw in the app was Test Track at 60 min for a brief moment.

We did hop over to HS for Fantasmic which was the standard level of packed out.

Between the attendance at MK yesterday and Epcot today, I am pretty shocked but certainly not complaining!

 

[NashvilleMama]

Epcot was crazy slow today too. Remy and Soarin were basically at 10-20 minutes all day, and the longest wait I saw in the app was Test Track at 60 min for a brief moment.

We did hop over to HS for Fantasmic which was the standard level of packed out.

Between the attendance at MK yesterday and Epcot today, I am pretty shocked but certainly not complaining!

I wonder if the heat kept all the locals home especially from Epcot hang outs (wouldn't blame them) and others just only could handle a few hours max in the parks each day (also couldn't blame them.)

 

[lorileahb]

I wonder if the heat kept all the locals home especially from Epcot hang outs (wouldn't blame them) and others just only could handle a few hours max in the parks each day (also couldn't blame them.)

That has been my thought when I see these posts. Though, I heard last year's Labor Day was similar... with unanticipated low crowds.

 

[100AcreWood]

We’ve been here since the 18th June (leaving on the 9th July) and have definitely noticed an uptick in how crowded the parks are getting now compared to last week and how self-centred/rude other guests are. The tour groups have returned in full force this week after not really having to deal with them last year and a lot of them are acting like they’re the only ones at the parks, which is annoying. Combined with the heat (we come this time every year for over 15+ years so know what to expect but it just seems hotter this year for some reason) and them clearly overselling Genie +/LL, as a DAS user yesterday at DHS and MK today was pretty miserable ngl with how long the lines were at some attractions. They were having problems with HM this morning and only allowing small groups into the stretching room at a time and then we still walked out into the loading area being backed up all of the way to the stretching room doors. The ride broke down twice when we were on it and what should have been a 10 minute wait with all of the delays turned into a 40 minute experience. CMs have mostly been great but the torrential rain a few nights back has ruined some of our evening plans. Anyway, about to head to California Grill soon but just thought I’d add to the convo.

We ran into a lot of tour groups during our June trip a few years ago. Do they typically show up during the summer months? We almost saw a fight between a family and a tour group who shoved their way to the front of the viewing area near the castle about 15 minutes before the show was about to start.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I didnt go into the parks yesterday but I was at Disney Springs and it was pretty dead. No Gideon's virtual queue and the while the employees said it was a 35 minute wait, the wait was closer to 15-20. Every restaurant was accepting walk ups and the Lego store line was pretty short. It was also hotter than the surface of the sun yesterday and Disney Springs has little to no shade.

I would love to know how busy Typhoon Lagoon was.

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

On our way home from 10 nights (6 at Yacht Club 4 at Caribbean Beach). Yep it was hot but overall it was a great trip. I had to work much of it meaning we couldn’t hit the parks until 6 many days but we have AP’s (no guilt for not maximizing our park days) and I have a chronic illness that makes me get overheated really easily, so this ended up working great for my family. We’d roll into the parks around 6:30 when everyone else was leaving and have a great few hours in the parks.

We loved both resorts! The only complaint is that the AC struggled a bit at both but that’s understandable in a heat wave and it wasn’t awful, we just prefer it frigid. WiFi was better at Yacht Club. Food was better at Caribbean Beach. Skyliner was great as always.

Park crowds were completely manageable. The night of the extended evening hours at MK was insane when we first got in. The mobile order line at Cosmic Rays was unlike anything I’d seen there before. The crowd cleared out a lot though by the time the extended hours kicked in and I’m glad we stuck it out. EPCOT extended hours were a flop but we were able to enjoy Epcot several other days so no worries there.

& yes, July 4th weekend crowds were non existent. It was absolutely bizarre and so much fun spending the last 2 days of our trips at Hollywood Studios and Epcot with no crowds when we expected the opposite.