Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[Tarilyn]

Here this week.
MK long lines and lots is people on Monday. Didn’t do most of the rides and left at 8:00pm. Jingle Cruise was 90 minute wait. Most masks were worn correctly except for the few who needed reminding. Announcements made In park of no eating and drinking in line.
AK yesterday... 100 minute wait for Avatar. 120 minute wait for N’avi River Journey. Did most things but not all and left at 4:00pm.
Disney Springs was crowds like before Covid. Very uncomfortable tonight

 

[hereforthechurros]

Yeah I’m not at all impressed with crowd control this week. Usually for christmas it’s all systems go with things staffed and running full bore. This feels like typical holiday crowds but so much less resources/options/places to go. Expecting long lines around the holidays is one thing, but without FP to at least guarantee a few rides it feels very much like a crapshoot. We’ve been to WDW roughly 15 times in the past 3.5 years so we aren’t exactly novices, but this week has us feeling very lost and like we’re missing out on so much.

 

[Alynw]

I'll be heading to MK this afternoon so I'd be curious to know the crowd level if anyone is there at noon. U can find a long wait time anywhere if thats what ur looking for, people watch wait times and crowds will flock to a low wait time and it can go from 30 to 90 in minutes but if u wait an hour it could go back to 30. 60-90 min is a low to normal wait time for xmas and not bad at all for this time of year and if u get in line u might be surprised to find out its only 45. U can't compare xmas times to off season times or even other holiday times, xmas is a different beast and if u compare xmas to xmas, this year doesn't even compare to previous years. Normal xmas times are 90 min for small world, haunted, pirates, 120 jungle cruise, 180 pan, 180 space, 210 7 dwarfs, so ill take that 60 all day long at xmas.

 

[JJB123]

The crowd level at MK very much felt like it was way above the 35% capacity level.

 

[Alynw]

Here now at MK and I cant believe how low the crowd is and low wait times, unbelievable how empty it feels. The crowd and wait times are maybe a 1/4 of what they should be for xmas, I am loving this. Ive been coming here at xmas for 12 years now, 16 days every year at xmas and new year and this years crowds and wait times are not even in the same ball park. There are obvious areas of the park where crowds tend to gather or bottle neck where you could take a snapshot in time and say parks are over crowded but that is def not the case, if ur looking for it u can find it but if ur a xmas veteran, then u know these crowds and wait times are a gift. I would gladly pay even more for my ticket to get this same crowd and wait times during xmas. To all us normal xmas time vets that are used to 90-180 average, enjoy these 30-60 min gifts. Have fun and Merry Christmas.

 

[Alynw]

Space mnt posted 60 min and literally took 25 min

 

[JJB123]

We were at MK and waited over 90 minutes for a few rides. In addition, several rides don’t contain the whole experience.
Our last time in MK was in Feb 2020 and have decided to not go back until FP are up and running.

 

[JJB123]

We waited 70 minutes for SM yesterday at 2pm

 

[MomOTwins]

Can anyone report on the availability of buses at GF? Are they starting early enough to get to the parks before posted opening times?

When we were there in October, they were definitely leaving early enough to get you to the parks before official park open (first bus departed about 75-65 mins before official park open time), but NOT early enough to beat the parking lot and gondola crowd for HS and Epcot. If I were doing it over, I'd book a very early breakfast at a Crescent lake resort (or just get dropped off by uber at the Swolphin) and then walk to HS/Epcot.

 

[GPC0321]

We're on day four. Did Epcot Monday, Studios Tuesday, AK yesterday, and back to Epcot today. So far, the only place we've felt uncomfortably crowded was a brief visit to Disney Springs last night. Nope. Waaaay too many people. I went to Vera Bradley and got a new purse, we tried to go to WoD but there was a heck of a line and we were tired.

We haven't done anything but try to be at the parks early enough to ride a couple of things. We did Soarin' Monday and it was basically walk-on. Did MMRR on Tuesday and had about a 20 minute wait (got there about an hour after park opening maybe?). We basically walked onto Kilimanjaro at AK yesterday when we got there (and we got there about two and a half hours after park opening). Today we got into Epcot about twenty minutes before official park opening and trekked around to Norway where we literally walked onto FEA (posted wait was 5 min). Went to Soarin after and it was a 10 minute posted wait, but basically was walk on.

We've only had one ADR, which was Yak & Yeti yesterday. Food was delicious and service was fantastic. We've either done holiday kitchen in Epcot or mobile order for everything else including Docking Bay 7 at GE which was very tasty. We've never waited very long for our meals and have found places to sit and enjoy our food.

All-in-all, the one thing we do notice is that COVID does take a little bit of the enjoyment away because you do have to be aware of distancing and masks and just the overall risk that is inherent right now. Usually at WDW we love the "carefree" feeling that comes with being in the bubble away from the real world. But the real world has infiltrated the bubble thanks to the virus, and it's noticeable. We've felt safe and that Disney is doing everything they can, but it still takes a bit of the fun away.

Tomorrow we're doing Magic Kingdom for Christmas Day. No ADRs, so we'll be mobile ordering and trying to ride as many of our faves as we can. Hoping to catch all of the cavalcades. So far we've seen the Pixar character cavalcade in HS twice. We saw Santa, the drummers, and some of the characters yesterday at AK on the boats. We saw Santa Monday at Epcot and today we saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy at Epcot.

I will say that we miss hopping a lot. Those who come after January 1st are lucky to have that option for the afternoons. Still, for WDW veterans who have realistic expectations and don't mind following guidelines during a pandemic, there is fun to be had here!

 

[DisneyMommy77]

AK was empty today! Arrived around 1pm and waited 3 minutes for Flight of Passage. 25 minutes was the posted time. Everest was 5 minutes and Dinosaur was the longest at 15 minutes. This is our 4th year in a row at AK on Christmas Eve and it was so nice today!
Nice warm weather too!

HS has definitely felt the busiest. We have gone twice within the last week. We waited 60 minutes for Tower of Terror a couple times even when arriving at opening. It was our 3rd ride of the day and got busy pretty quick.

 

[Bruggok]

AK was empty today! Arrived around 1pm and waited 3 minutes for Flight of Passage. 25 minutes was the posted time. Everest was 5 minutes and Dinosaur was the longest at 15 minutes.

Was 3 minutes from you entering FOP line to reaching the FastPass checkpoint, or to climbing on simulated ik’ran and putting on 3D glasses? Walking from FastPass line to actual ride can take 10+ min including watching the video sequence in ready room. In contrast, post-covid 6’ distanced FOP line moving nearly continuously from Africa/Pandora border to FastPass checkpoint I timed at only 15 minutes.

 

[DisneyMommy77]

Was 3 minutes from you entering FOP line to reaching the FastPass checkpoint, or to climbing on simulated ik’ran and putting on 3D glasses? Walking from FastPass line to actual ride can take 10+ min including watching the video sequence in ready room. In contrast, distances FOP line moving nearly continuously from Africa/Pandora border to FastPass checkpoint I timed at only 15 minutes.

I timed 3 minutes from where the standby entrance started to where we walked into the room to watch the video. Maybe we walk fast, but we walked the whole time and only paused for maybe 20 seconds before walking into the room to watch the video. Basically, there was no wait.

I should add that today they were seating people right next to each other on the ride. When we went last week it seemed like there was an empty seat next to me. Today I had a lady right next to me and my husband had someone next to him as well. Certainly not 6 feet apart.

 

[Alynw]

Haunted is literally walk on and re-ride several times with no wait at all. That is just crazy

 

[hereforthechurros]

Epcot was empty today too. Frozen line never left Norway. No waits for food or Soarin or the pyramid. Thinking no local APs hurts Epcot the most.

 

[yulilin3]

For those here now
All main pools (pools with lifeguards) will have modified hours due to temps for tomorrow and Saturday

• Resort Feature Pools - 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Resort Leisure Pools - 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• Resort Spas/Hot Tubs - 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

 

[kristenbrandt]

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.

Agree with your tips and summary 100% as our thoughts/experiences from mid-October mirror same. DH is OMFS taking call in ED at local hospital, operating and seeing patients daily, emergencies only during the lockdown. Masks/distancing/cleanliness met/exceeded our expectations. As a die-hard RD/FP family, you have to adjust expectations and embrace line time with the fam - and after a lockdown at home, what can you complain about in line at RnR?
Headed down for our 25th anniversary next week and feeling grateful we can...thankful the parks are open, visitors comply, Disney works hard to keep numbers low enough to remain a destination. With realistic expectations (ditto advice to not go for the trip of a lifetime) it’s a lovely break from reality. Merry Christmas y’all!

 

[DisneyMommy77]

Magic Kingdom was very manageable today on Christmas day! Space Mountain had a posted 50 min. wait, but it was only 20. Little busier to us than earlier this week, but sure can't complain about being in Magic Kingdom on Christmas!!
It was a great day!!
We really enjoyed our Christmas lunch at Crystal Palace. Better than I was expecting!

 

[Adrian P]

Magic Kingdom was very manageable today on Christmas day! Space Mountain had a posted 50 min. wait, but it was only 20. Little busier to us than earlier this week, but sure can't complain about being in Magic Kingdom on Christmas!!
It was a great day!!
We really enjoyed our Christmas lunch at Crystal Palace. Better than I was expecting!

Completely agree! We arrived at MK at 9:30 and we’re able to ride 11 rides and lunch after Pecos Bill’s. Completely manageable for Christmas Day!

 

[4Spen]

We arrived today. Staying off site tonight and checking into Shades of Green tomorrow. We attempted to go to Disney Springs around 5:30 but it was closed and at capacity. Traffic around DS was really bad. Decided to go to Coronado Springs and have dinner at Three Bridges. Parking there was super easy and hassle free. The restaurant walk up list was only a 5 minute wait. It was cold (open air seating) but they had heaters so it was manageable. After dinner thought we’d go get dessert but hit roadblocks trying to enter and park at the Boardwalk and the Riviera. Tried again to go to DS which now showed open but traffic was still horrible and the line of cars trying to get in was crazy. After sitting in that mess for a while, we decided to come back to our hotel and rest since we are getting up early tomorrow. Hopefully when the weekend is over DS will be easier to enter. I guess we will see.