We returned on Saturday from an amazing stay at Contemporary Resort. We booked a theme park view, and were so glad we did. Usually we just go with "standard" or whatever else is cheap, but in this case we decided to make something good happen after the last few months. We never once regretted that decision. Because of the shorter hours, we were in the room more than usual and we loved sitting on our bed, or balcony, and staring at the castle. I was unprepared for that view. We have stayed in theme park view at Grand Floridian before, but this was amazing.
A few highlights:
We felt super safe the whole time; both in the parks and at the resort. The steps that Disney has taken regarding cleaning, social distancing, and safety protocols were great! We never worried about getting sick or catching anything while we were there.
If you are a cash guest, you will get "light housekeeping" every other day. That meant taking out the trash, removing towels, and restocking things like toiletries, towels and coffee. I THINK DVC is every four days, but don't quote me on that. We wanted extra towels and coffee, so we called on the first day and each time housekeeping came in, they left extra. If we needed something, we called housekeeping, and they sent it up pretty quickly.
Bell services held our luggage on arrival day and departure day. On arrival day they brought it up to the room for us after we spent a few hours at Disney Springs.
We didn't have any big issues with the elevators. On our arrival night (Saturday) and our last night (Friday) we noticed a lot more traffic wanting to go up, but we probably didn't wait more than 5 minutes despite the line. During the week there were far fewer people around in general.
There were a lot of people using Contempo Cafe on Saturday and Friday night, but again, the crowds were much less during the week. We got tired of the limited menu, so we ordered Giordano's pizza one night. I love any chance I can get to have my Chicago deep dish! We had both flatbreads and the Spicy chicken sandwich from Contempo. We loved the meat flatbread, but after two nights in a row we were ready for something else.
We did not have any bus issues. The first Hollywood Studios bus is sent to pick up at 8:50, with another one right behind it. On both of our Hollywood days we were on the first bus (but we got to the stop around 8:00 to make sure we were on it), and I would estimate that by the time the first bus came there were at least 3 if not 4 bus loads of people in line for Hollywood Studios. We never had an issue getting in to the park, and had ridden both Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway and Slinky Dog Dash before time to get the boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. One day we were #18 and the second day we were #15.
The temp check for Magic Kingdom opened around 8:15 each day (one day it was earlier, but the other two it was about 8:15). We would be through temp check/security and turnstiles and be on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train all three days by 8:30.
Crowds were AMAZING. Sometimes wait times said they were long, but it was rare we ever waited as long as was posted. Often it was half the amount of time. On our last day (Saturday) Space Mountain said it was a 40 minute wait but we went ahead and got in line even though the line was outside the building. As soon as we got inside the building, we literally walked all the way on to the coaster. We never stopped moving. So max we were in line 5 minutes. On our Hollywood day the wait said 30 minutes for Smugglers Run and we walked on and off it two times in a row (18 minutes total time to walk the line and ride it twice). Our average wait was 10 minutes. A few times we waited a little longer, but it was usually due to the scheduled cleaning they did every 2 hours. At Epcot we had World Showcase mostly to ourselves as we started there, then did rides in Future World in afternoon. Waits were nonexistent on rides in afternoon. We walked on everything we wanted to (we did Test Track then Frozen at park opening, but otherwise we did all other rides in the afternoon).
Quick service was limited. And the menus at the restaurants were limited. But other than a really bad tasting meal at Pecos Bills, we loved all of our meals and found mobile ordering to be quick and easy. We will only use it going forward.
Not all food booths were open at Epcot for Food and Wine, but the ones we ate at were really good. Some still said coming soon. The Gourmet mac and cheese from the Mac and Cheese booth was our favorite dish ever from a festival. At least half of the shops in each country were open (which is not what we were expecting from previous guest experiences). So we had plenty to do in each country and didn't feel like we were missing as much as I expected we would.
Not all shops are open in the parks. Some are set up for social distancing and were not open so I am not sure if that meant they are on other days, or if they are getting ready to open soon. The big shops in each park were (Emporium, Mouse Gears, etc) so we had plenty of opportunities to spend money.
Disney Springs got busier as the night went on. For our second time there, we ended up leaving early due to heavy crowds and not good mask usage (a lot of people were walking and "eating" or just not wearing them properly). I don't usually mind the mask abusers, but when the crowds are tight like that, I was a little uncomfortable. So go earlier if that's an issue for you.
Mask compliance was near 100% in every park. Yes there were a few who didn't have it over their noses, or were trying to take it off for pictures, but there was always a friendly cast member nearby to remind them. I only saw one incident where the family didn't put it on when asked and started yelling at the cast member. For the most part, everyone did their part. And it was HOT. Heat index was near 105 most days. However, I really did get used to it much faster than I thought I would.
They were doing activities at the pool each day. We only went swimming one day, but it was a great time. Staff was friendly and chairs were clean. You only had to wear the mask if you were walking around, and if you were in the pool, lounging by it, or heading to get in, you didn't have to wear a mask. We wanted to swim a few nights, but there always seemed to be storm rolling in when we were ready to swim so it was closed.
The pool bar (Sand Bar) was open from 11-7. We did not eat there, but they had a few ice cream and drink options, along with a burger, hot dog, salad, nachos and a few other options.
It was eerily quiet when we were eating at Contempo Cafe. It was so weird without the noise from Chef Mickeys! If you had a refillable mug, you would simply show it to the staff at the fountain and they would give you a paper cup filled with whatever drink you wanted. It was usually a pretty easy process, except at busier times.
Staff was so friendly everywhere we went and genuinely happy to be there. Several times I would mention how happy I was to be back in the magic, and they would say they were happy to have us back and how much they had missed being in the parks as well.
I think that is about all I can think of right now. If you are on the fence about going, and are comfortable with it, I urge you to go. We truly feel like this was one of our favorite trips ever. Yes some of our favorite shops and food items were not there. However, we finally discovered The Plaza after 30+ visits to the park and now it will be a staple. Yes the parade wasn't happening. However, we loved the pop up cavalcades and seeing characters in new ways. We haven't seen characters driving around Hollywood Studios or Epcot in years and it was fun to be surprised by it. We also loved the characters interacting with the guests (Stormtroopers from above in Galaxy's Edge or Anastasia and Drizella from the back of the castle for example). It was like the old days when you never knew when you would see a character. Yes we missed some of our favorite shows in the parks. However, we were able to ride every ride we wanted in the parks each day and still had so much fun. Yes we missed the fireworks. However, we were back in the room more than ever before and didn't come home feeling like we needed a vacation to rest up. We actually enjoyed time exploring the resort. I hear so many people say they want to wait until more things are open. I totally get that, but if people don't travel, they won't be able to open more things. If it isn't your first trip and you want to enjoy the rides and smaller crowds, this is the perfect time to go. It was so relaxing without fast passes and having to watch the clock. We toured the park in whatever order we wanted to and at a much slower pace. It was wonderful! Not all families are comfortable with traveling, and I totally get it. But if you're comfortable it's great! The magic truly is still there!!!!
