teachluvbeach
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2014
My sister and brother-in-law wanted to take my nephew (5) and niece (2) away for spring break, and although I had strong reservations about traveling to Florida, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the kids' first reaction to WDW. Along with my parents, the 7 of us stayed off-property in a 5br rental w/ pool. It was less than the price of one hotel room, with tons of space for us all to spread out, and no need to come in contact with others on non-park days. We arrived on Sat 4/17 and rented a minivan from MCO.
Overall, we were extremely impressed with the COVID protocols in place and guest compliance. Having said that, we had 2 fully vaccinated and 3 partially vaccinated adults so we were not as stressed about being in proximity to others as we would have been if we were visiting a couple of months ago. I spent a lot of time on this forum pre-trip and read mixed reviews about masks and social distancing, but we had no complaints. Mask wearing was excellent and distancing in lines was pretty good - occassionally people would get close, but never once did it appear intentional.
Sunday (EPCOT) - Park hours were 11am-11pm. We entered the main gate around 10:15 and left via IG around 4:45. We had a 6:15 ADR at Homecomin' so we walked to the Beach Club to catch a bus. In hindsight, this was a mistake. Although we were the 2nd group waiting, the first 2 buses that came were full. When the 3rd bus came, we were able to get my sister and BIL on with the kids on their laps. Everyone else in line gave up and left. My parents and I took a Lyft to DS. Homecomin' was great - food and drinks were delicious, and the service was outstanding. Didn't spend any more time at DS - as I had expected from feedback on this forum, it was so crowded. For the return trip to EPCOT I tried a different strategy - we took the bus to Riviera and then the Skyliner to IG. Worked out perfectly and the Skyliner was one of the highlights of the day for the kids.
Monday (AK) - Park hours were 8am-8pm. We entered the park around 9:45 and left around 6. Had a nice day despite intermittent sprinkles. This was our first visit to AK ever and we enjoyed it, but took it easy due to our late night before and took a lot of breaks. Had lunch at Satu'li Canteen after reading great reviews, and we were not disappointed. Loved the mobile ordering process and not having to stalk tables! Ended our day with FoP. Such an impressive ride! I have height/motion issues that I am able to push through on other rides, but this one was really rough for me. I'm so glad I experienced it but that will probably be my one and only time.
Wednesday (HS) - Park hours were 9am-8pm. We entered the park at 8:45 and left at 7. Slinky Dog Dash was down all day, finally started running around 6pm. By that time, we were just too exhausted to wait in line for an hour
We were really disappointed. Aside from that, it was an awesome day. My last visit was pre- Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge. What a difference they've made to the park! We got RotR boarding group 19 and loved it. As a big fan of the GMR, I was very skeptical of MMRR in its place. It was one of the longest waits of the trip, but we enjoyed it so much that we rode a second time.
Thursday (MK) - Park hours were 8am-9pm. We entered the park at 8:15 and left at 9. Another disappointment that 7DMT was down until near-close, so instead of heading there first, we did Fantasyland and Frontierland before leaving for an ADR at Whispering Canyon. I had read suggestions on here to take the boat. Unfortunately, there was only one boat operating between MK, WL, and FW. We waited a while in line and I started to get nervous about missing our lunch reservation. I went to one of the CMs at the boat launch and asked if we should take the bus instead. He was adamant that the bus was a terrible idea - that they were unreliable at that time of day. We got to WL dock just as our check-in window expired, but the manager was wonderful and was able to work us into the rotation after about a 10 minute wait in the lobby. We took the bus back to MK and had no problem. All in all, it was nice to take a midday break and get away from the crowds, but it turned into a 3 hour break in the end which was more than we wanted. Half the group went home around 7:30pm and the rest of us stayed until close, getting in a couple of remaining rides on our list including 7DMT which was finally open and down to a 30 min wait. At park close, we took a bus to All Star Movies and then Uber to our rental house.
Overall impressions: We had a great time! Sure, masks were annoying compared to pre-pandemic trips, but we were really thankful that everyone followed the protocols. I also loved seeing all of the fun, Disney-themed masks people wore. I got tears in my eyes a few times when it sunk in, just how many people were able to experience joy during a stressful time, and it was fun to see large families being able to spend time together. I used TP lines app which saved us a lot of time and would definitely use again on a future trip. We are big FP fans but didn't mind not having it this trip, as lines were really reasonable in general. We also loved the character cavalcades. So nice to stumble across passing characters while walking from one ride to the next, without having to scope out a spot in advance for parades or take alternate routes to avoid parades altogether. Short and sweet! This being our first time traveling with kids, we weren't sure what to expect in terms of what rides they'd attempt or enjoy. But they were both open to trying things and we were so pleased with how many rides the 2yo could go on (though she did scream through a few on the first day). And rider swap was so wonderful for preserving everyone's sanity with wait times and making sure no one had to skip a ride. Finally, several in my family are plant-based eaters and we were so impressed with how many delicious options there were. We were expecting to have to pack lunches on park days but were thrilled to find we didn't need to after all.
Although we were nervous, we're so glad we went and I'm thankful for all of the advice I read on here to make everything that much more enjoyable!
Overall, we were extremely impressed with the COVID protocols in place and guest compliance. Having said that, we had 2 fully vaccinated and 3 partially vaccinated adults so we were not as stressed about being in proximity to others as we would have been if we were visiting a couple of months ago. I spent a lot of time on this forum pre-trip and read mixed reviews about masks and social distancing, but we had no complaints. Mask wearing was excellent and distancing in lines was pretty good - occassionally people would get close, but never once did it appear intentional.
Sunday (EPCOT) - Park hours were 11am-11pm. We entered the main gate around 10:15 and left via IG around 4:45. We had a 6:15 ADR at Homecomin' so we walked to the Beach Club to catch a bus. In hindsight, this was a mistake. Although we were the 2nd group waiting, the first 2 buses that came were full. When the 3rd bus came, we were able to get my sister and BIL on with the kids on their laps. Everyone else in line gave up and left. My parents and I took a Lyft to DS. Homecomin' was great - food and drinks were delicious, and the service was outstanding. Didn't spend any more time at DS - as I had expected from feedback on this forum, it was so crowded. For the return trip to EPCOT I tried a different strategy - we took the bus to Riviera and then the Skyliner to IG. Worked out perfectly and the Skyliner was one of the highlights of the day for the kids.
Monday (AK) - Park hours were 8am-8pm. We entered the park around 9:45 and left around 6. Had a nice day despite intermittent sprinkles. This was our first visit to AK ever and we enjoyed it, but took it easy due to our late night before and took a lot of breaks. Had lunch at Satu'li Canteen after reading great reviews, and we were not disappointed. Loved the mobile ordering process and not having to stalk tables! Ended our day with FoP. Such an impressive ride! I have height/motion issues that I am able to push through on other rides, but this one was really rough for me. I'm so glad I experienced it but that will probably be my one and only time.
Wednesday (HS) - Park hours were 9am-8pm. We entered the park at 8:45 and left at 7. Slinky Dog Dash was down all day, finally started running around 6pm. By that time, we were just too exhausted to wait in line for an hour
We were really disappointed. Aside from that, it was an awesome day. My last visit was pre- Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge. What a difference they've made to the park! We got RotR boarding group 19 and loved it. As a big fan of the GMR, I was very skeptical of MMRR in its place. It was one of the longest waits of the trip, but we enjoyed it so much that we rode a second time.Thursday (MK) - Park hours were 8am-9pm. We entered the park at 8:15 and left at 9. Another disappointment that 7DMT was down until near-close, so instead of heading there first, we did Fantasyland and Frontierland before leaving for an ADR at Whispering Canyon. I had read suggestions on here to take the boat. Unfortunately, there was only one boat operating between MK, WL, and FW. We waited a while in line and I started to get nervous about missing our lunch reservation. I went to one of the CMs at the boat launch and asked if we should take the bus instead. He was adamant that the bus was a terrible idea - that they were unreliable at that time of day. We got to WL dock just as our check-in window expired, but the manager was wonderful and was able to work us into the rotation after about a 10 minute wait in the lobby. We took the bus back to MK and had no problem. All in all, it was nice to take a midday break and get away from the crowds, but it turned into a 3 hour break in the end which was more than we wanted. Half the group went home around 7:30pm and the rest of us stayed until close, getting in a couple of remaining rides on our list including 7DMT which was finally open and down to a 30 min wait. At park close, we took a bus to All Star Movies and then Uber to our rental house.
Overall impressions: We had a great time! Sure, masks were annoying compared to pre-pandemic trips, but we were really thankful that everyone followed the protocols. I also loved seeing all of the fun, Disney-themed masks people wore. I got tears in my eyes a few times when it sunk in, just how many people were able to experience joy during a stressful time, and it was fun to see large families being able to spend time together. I used TP lines app which saved us a lot of time and would definitely use again on a future trip. We are big FP fans but didn't mind not having it this trip, as lines were really reasonable in general. We also loved the character cavalcades. So nice to stumble across passing characters while walking from one ride to the next, without having to scope out a spot in advance for parades or take alternate routes to avoid parades altogether. Short and sweet! This being our first time traveling with kids, we weren't sure what to expect in terms of what rides they'd attempt or enjoy. But they were both open to trying things and we were so pleased with how many rides the 2yo could go on (though she did scream through a few on the first day). And rider swap was so wonderful for preserving everyone's sanity with wait times and making sure no one had to skip a ride. Finally, several in my family are plant-based eaters and we were so impressed with how many delicious options there were. We were expecting to have to pack lunches on park days but were thrilled to find we didn't need to after all.
Although we were nervous, we're so glad we went and I'm thankful for all of the advice I read on here to make everything that much more enjoyable!
