Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[hereforthechurros]

Thanks for the report! Does Starbucks do mobile ordering?

Sadly no which is crazy. Right now after you order, if you make it through the insanely long line, you must stand at the register until a circle to wait for food becomes available. There are only three circles so there’s a lot of just standing around at the register. Seems like an awful system. I’d love to see them fully convert to mobile order and have all resources handling that vs. the mile long line and sloooow ordering system they have now.

 

[gatzsd]

We just arrived today. The line for the magical express was over an hour wait. We decided to do an Uber instead of waiting which was around $60 and was full of cigarette smoke. Hoping the rest of the service is an improvement and we have a great trip

 

[Alynw]

Just wanted to share my recent experience and say how pleasantly surprised I was at how low the crowds were. I was at HS 18th and I couldn't believe how low the crowd was. We got there at 11am and Runaway Railroad was literally only 30 min wait, rock n roll was 30 min, tower of terror 30 min and slinky dog was 45 min. Only ride that had any real wait was MF at 100 min according to posted time and 90 min according to cast member holding end of line sign but thats to be expected as anyone that didn't get a rise pass is def going to ride falcon. Overall the place was empty compared to normal. I was at AK 20th and rode both pandora rides at 40 min wait each, everest was 15 min, safari was walk on and toward the end of the night, evert was walk on, dinosaur was walk on, pandora was 15 min, there were times it felt like we were only ones in the park, literally would be walking and not see 1 person but again this was at 630pm and park closed at 7pm but even during the day it was just almost empty, didn't even come close to comparing to normal crowds. Also, with all the covid and limited attractions/shows/fireworks. It didn't feel like we were missing anything or not getting our money worth, the Disney magic is still there alive and well.

 

[nixpartyoffive]

Day 1 at Hollywood Studios. Husband scored BG 9 at our hotel (Marriott Sabal Palms, on data). Arrived at HS at 8:00, waited for parking to open... we were in by 8:10. Parked and through temp/bag check by 8:21. Went directly to MMRMT and in line by 8:24. At around 8:50 they announced the ride was down. RotR was boarding groups 1-10, so we left. Walked on to Rise at 9:00. Walked around GE, shopped and took some pictures. Smugglers Run was 75 minutes by this point so went on to Toy Story. SD waited 50 (posted 70), Midway Mania 25 (posted 50), Alien Swirl 25. We mobile ordered from Woodys Lunchbox while in line for Slinky... had a 12:40 pickup and it worked perfect. After lunch and rest, went back to MMRMT at 1:30. Ride broke down again around 2, but we stayed in line and were boarding by 2:26. Posted time when we first entered the line was 60. Husband and kids all went to ride TOT and Rockin RC. I’ve been shopping and have seen the Santa and Pixar cavalcades while waiting. Park is busy, but mask compliance is great. Social distancing is good except for some choke points. CM are all very friendly. We’ve only seen a few Photo Pass photographers and have stopped at 4. Tonight we have Sci Fi ADR at 7:45 and Savi’s at 9:05. So we will probably be going back to GE next as my kids want to shop and do more there.

 

[GPC0321]

Day One. We got to BWV about 8:45 or so this morning. We had DME to ourselves from MCO. Dropped bags with bell services and went to Boardwalk Bakery. Mobile Ordered our resort mugs and breakfast...had it in a couple of minutes. We ate outside. It was a little brisk, but we were dressed for it and the food was tasty. Walked to Epcot afterward and went straight to Soarin'. This was just a bit before 10am and we weren't alone in heading to Soarin, but we basically walked straight to where we were put into rows and waiting for the pre-ride video and then were in and enjoying the ride very soon after. Afterward we walked to Nemo and that was total walk-on. Looked at the critters for a couple of minutes and headed to Spaceship Earth. The line was intimidating but it basically kept moving almost nonstop. We headed back into World Showcase and got lunch at the Holiday Kitchen in Mexico. Went and watched the China movie, then strolled around and stopped because it was almost time for a Voices of Liberty performance. I had time, so ran and picked up some chocolate crinkle cookies from the American Holiday Kitchen and made it back to Mom in time to enjoy the show (and cookies). We got a text that our room was ready, so decided to head to the resort to rest up for tonight. We're chilling in the room now. The room is lovely, we've got a great view of the pool and Tower of Terror. We're heading back over to Epcot soon to enjoy some things at the Holiday Kitchens and do some shopping.

We haven't felt at all unsafe here. Mask compliance is darn near 100%. I have seen a cast member asking someone with a nose peeking out to pull his mask up. People are pretty aware and respectful about social distancing. Certainly there are times when walking (especially exiting attractions) when you're not very distanced, but it's short-lived.

Tomorrow is Hollywood Studios. We're going to get there early to do M&MRR. I'll try for a ROTR boarding pass early, but if we don't get one, no biggie. I expect bigger crowds than the Epcot ones today. We'll see!

Happy to be here! (Oh...the Chocolate Crinkle Cookie is good!)

 

[WorldOfPooh]

We just arrived today. The line for the magical express was over an hour wait. We decided to do an Uber instead of waiting which was around $60 and was full of cigarette smoke. Hoping the rest of the service is an improvement and we have a great trip

How can it be over an hour?

I've never had to wait more than 15 minutes for the bus to arrive.

 

[scrappinginontario]

How can it be over an hour?

I've never had to wait more than 15 minutes for the bus to arrive.

The week of Christmas it can be that busy for sure. Many are arriving and buses are limited in the number of people they can transport.

We were there in September one year and had to wait almost an hour between the wait in line (we were backed up half way down the rental car area and then once bands were checked our resort line was almost full.) From there we had to wait for a bus to load an another arrive and all of this was pre-COVID so when buses will filling to their maximum.

 

[Belle5]

Do you mean the BatB sing-along?

Yes, that's what I mean! My college age son didn't realize it was a kids attraction and assumed it would be like Impressions de France.

 

[vital]

Got home yesterday after a Dec 13-21 birthday trip. I turned 50 on Saturday so we spent it at Epcot. Those of you who were there may have seen me in my "It's my 50th Birthday" shirt .

We went to each park 2 days except AK which we did one day. All in all it was a fantastic trip. It was very cold one day/night, but we brought clothes for that so it was fine.

Mask compliance was better than I anticipated, but then I wasn't looking for rule breakers. We are a family of 1 ED RN (me) 1 FireMedic (DH) and 1 fire fighter (DS) so our tolerance is probably higher than people who aren't in the medical/first responder field. A few times we saw CM's running towards people who were taking pictures with masks off, but people quickly complied. That was the only time we really noticed masks off besides eating/drinking to the side.

We definitely noticed an increase in crowds Sunday the 20th at MK. We left to go eat at Whispering Canyon at noon and did not return due to the rain and increase in crowds. People were pouring in and it wasn't the fear of Covid that made us not go back, it was the fear of the long lines for rides. LOL At the beginning of the week, wait times were half of what was posted, but by the end of the week the wait times were increasing.

Here are my tips:

Rope drop, rope drop, rope drop
Mobile order
Hit the "must do" rides first then the rest is gravy
We did one thing in each park that we'd never done before since we were able to take advantage of the low crowds.
Take the lines for what they're worth. Enjoy the time with family.
If you are the tiniest bit afraid of crowds I would wait. There are choke points, but you're not in them for long.
The parks opened about 45 minutes before posted time and the closing announcement wasn't until an hour after posted closing time.

We stayed at BWV and I absolutely love that place. You can't beat the location and being able to go to the bakery, pizza window and walk over to the Yacht and Beach Clubs for other dining options is fantastic.

Would we do it again? Absolutely.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

The week of Christmas it can be that busy for sure. Many are arriving and buses are limited in the number of people they can transport.

We were there in September one year and had to wait almost an hour between the wait in line (we were backed up half way down the rental car area and then once bands were checked our resort line was almost full.) From there we had to wait for a bus to load an another arrive and all of this was pre-COVID so when buses will filling to their maximum.

If that's the case then the Lynx bus may actually be faster. It probably 90 minutes from MCO to Disney or Universal.

 

[gatzsd]

How can it be over an hour?

I've never had to wait more than 15 minutes for the bus to arrive.

There was a huge line and no buses.

 

[gatzsd]

at mk now and definitely large crowds. By 7:45 am before the park opened the line for 7 dwarves mine train was 105 minutes! Both splash and big thunder are also currently closed

 

[WorldOfPooh]

at mk now and definitely large crowds. By 7:45 am before the park opened the line for 7 dwarves mine train was 105 minutes! Both splash and big thunder are also currently closed

wow, that's too bad. And no park hopping and no railroad train so you're stuck at MK for the day.
Is Carousel of Progress at least open?
Might be a day to just go to Tom Sawyer's island and relax in the chairs near Aunt Polly's lemonade stand.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

wow, that's too bad. And no park hopping and no railroad train so you're stuck at MK for the day.
Is Carousel of Progress at least open?
Might be a day to just go to Tom Sawyer's island and relax in the chairs near Aunt Polly's lemonade stand.

last I read Tom Sawyer is closed as river drained

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

We just arrived today. The line for the magical express was over an hour wait. We decided to do an Uber instead of waiting which was around $60 and was full of cigarette smoke. Hoping the rest of the service is an improvement and we have a great trip

What time of the day were you waiting? Just curious?

 

[DisneyOma]

Yikes, waiting in line with strangers, even if you are 6 feet apart, for more than 15 minutes would make me very nervous., never mind being in a show building. Good luck everyone and hope you stay safe.

 

[figmentfinesse]

last I read Tom Sawyer is closed as river drained

It is closed until March! I just discovered it in August so I will be sad to miss it in Jan.

 

[WorldOfPooh]

It is closed until March! I just discovered it in August so I will be sad to miss it in Jan.

So no Tom Sawyer and No Disney Railroad.
Looks like I'll continue to pass up MK for a while.

 

[yulilin3]

It is the busiest time of year, these are expected wait times

 

[Alynw]

I am totally baffled about the crowds here. From all the previous comments and my past xmas experiences, I was expecting these extreme wait times. I knew crowd level would be down but never thought the parks would be empty. I have never experienced such low wait times in all my past 10 yr or so of coming here during xmas. Most every ride so far has been under 30min with most average 15 min. MF was the longest and TT after that but even those are well under normal for this week. I def stand corrected in my original opinion that wait times would still be high due to social distancing because that is most def not the case. For anyone choosing not to go during this week because your worried about wait times, I recommend u go. I literally waited 5 min to ride Spaceship Earth during prime time. Good luck and Merry Xmas

Ps..Frozen was 15min during prime hours