Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[disneyseniors]

I know, it’s so crazy! It’s just so sad for allllll the people that didn’t get to go at all on their trip. I’ve read many reports here and reviews where people tried every day and were not successful…..then some people got to go twice and no shade their way but that has got to be frustrating for the people that missed it entirely…..

Yes, there seems to be a lot of people who try and try and don't get to ride one of the best rides at WDW.
I think there are way too many hoops to jump through just to try to get on that ride, IMO, it shouldn't be this hard to do.

 

[cakebaker]

Yes, there seems to be a lot of people who try and try and don't get to ride one of the best rides at WDW.
I think there are way too many hoops to jump through just to try to get on that ride, IMO, it shouldn't be this hard to do.

They have an attraction that more people want to ride than they can handle in a day. Extending park hours (lol) would help, but outside of that, not sure what they can do. They can't start limiting how many times you ride it over a span of days and they already limit it to once per day. I actually like the VQ's as a way not to have to stand in line for what would be many hours, but I also understand the frustration of not getting a chance to ride. Just not sure they can fix that for now.

 

[123SA]

At Ak. At 1:41 FOP. Walked all the way to the blue guy at a fast pace. Will be on ride in less than 15 minutes since we entered queue

we arrived at 12 today. Did safari and Dino walk on. Everest wa a slow constant walk from the entrance. Ride twice in under 1/2 hour

 

[holyrita]

At Ak. At 1:41 FOP. Walked all the way to the blue guy at a fast pace. Will be on ride in less than 15 minutes since we entered queue

we arrived at 12 today. Did safari and Dino walk on. Everest wa a slow constant walk from the entrance. Ride twice in under 1/2 hour

Just came here because I saw FOP was a 15 minute wait on the app and I couldn't believe it!!

 

[cam8n]

I beg to differ. Florida is also a meeting and convention place. Tons of cancellations for August. We have seen many cancellations and these are not Disney people. Availability all over the place besides WDW. There are very few companies willing to send an employee down to Florida right now. Too much liability. Even Universal is wide open this month.

Agree, at universal now and went to Sea World this morning was talking with some of the staff on the low crowds and they specifically mentioned conventions and international travel is way down, combine that with schools going back this week and covid you get low crowds

 

[Gary Stocker]

Based on what I am reading we should have had our daughter a week later so that her birthday trip was this week instead of last. While the crowds did go down a bit towards the end it was nothing like this (RotR and 15 minute FoPs?)

 

[Turksmom]

Based on what I am reading we should have had our daughter a week later so that her birthday trip was this week instead of last. While the crowds did go down a bit towards the end it was nothing like this (RotR and 15 minute FoPs?)

Your wife would probably disagree

 

[bbn1122]

My family was at AK this morning.
Thorough turnstile at 8:05, went straight to FOP maybe 30 minute wait. Excellent
Next Navi River 15 minutes.
Dinosaur -walk on
Everest -walk on
Safari -walk on.

Lunch at Yak & Yeti Cafe- no line
on bus by noon.

Weather as excellent! Breezy early not too hot!
We had an excellent morning.

Headed back to Rivera Resort for pool time.

Epcot tonight!

 

[brockash]

Are they using paper straws in the park? Was thinking of brining plastic straws in my bag.

I don't feel like drinking soda through a toilet paper roll.

Yes, unfortunately

 

[Tess]

What kind of bag is it? Brand?

Baggallini Cross Body--I actually posted a picture of the offending area according to the security guys/gals. Despite what they say, I truly feel it has to be the zipper inside the cross body strap--a compartment for sunglasses or small items which I never use. I have had this bag for years and love it. Not the best of shots, but see the picture. It is a lightweight, nylon bag.

 

[kboo]

Based on what I am reading we should have had our daughter a week later so that her birthday trip was this week instead of last. While the crowds did go down a bit towards the end it was nothing like this (RotR and 15 minute FoPs?)

Your wife would probably disagree

HAHA. We are taking DD1 for a birthday trip that was postponed from last year. Trading off the kids (<12) unvaccinated status with low crowds ... I was in labor over Labor Day weekend some time ago, DD1's birthday trip is perfectly timed (this year). Most years it's too late because school starts around then. A week later, for us, would certainly have been too late.

 

[123SA]

I posted this on the photopass thread too. We are capturing about 25% of ride photos. We have 5 bands from 2019 and 4 phones with mobile magic and Bluetooth on. I’ve been jotting down ride times to hopefully find them by calling after the trip

 

[kimili8]

Here now since Sat. Having an amazing trip! With the exception of SDD at HS yesterday, the rides have been basically walk-ons. Our day today at AK was just about perfect! FoPx2, EEx2, Navi x3, a great safari with lots of active animals (and so exciting to heat the lion’s roar!) Dino, TTBaB, both trails, animation class, affection section, FotLK, had a very delicious lunch at Tusker House, and did some photo pass shoots. All at a nice leisurely pace Interspersed with many snack breaks. We started walking out around 5, hit a few shops, walked right on to our bus, back at the YC around 6 just as it started to rain.

We were considering postponing (for the 3rd time), but decided since we are all adults and all vaccinated to “trust the science“ and go. So glad we did bc the lack of crowds is amazing. We are of course still wary of COVID and are taking all the precautions, but we really try to put it out of our head and not think about it too much. Because the crowds are so low it’s been a little easier to self distance, and we have had pretty good luck with the people behind keeping a distance as well. We are seeing lots of noses in the lines though, and there are plenty of situations where you’re still all smushed together (rope drop, preshows) While we are seeing plenty of kids it does seem like much fewer than normal, and while I’m making no judgments, we would not feel comfortable bringing little ones who were unvaccinated. We brought some tests with us in case any of us start to feel under the weather, and we will test before going back to work.
Looking forward to Boo Bash tomorrow! And praying that we can all stay healthy!

 

[amottmers]

Baggallini Cross Body--I actually posted a picture of the offending area according to the security guys/gals. Despite what they say, I truly feel it has to be the zipper inside the cross body strap--a compartment for sunglasses or small items which I never use. I have had this bag for years and love it. Not the best of shots, but see the picture. It is a lightweight, nylon bag.
View attachment 597600

This is the bag I have and will be bringing on my upcoming trip there. I brought it on my last trip back in 2015, but can't remember what type of security you had to walk through back then.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Until last year most parks had bag checks with regular metal detectors that some but not all guests were asked to walk through. It got to the point that I think AK was metal detector for all and the other parks it was only some guests.

The new security screenings have been in place since shortly after re-opening in July 2020.

 

[Carol_]

Yep they are. We were there last week. We hate the paper straws too

If anything makes me want to sell my DVC it’s trying to sip a Kakamora float through a paper straw. I stuff my own straws in my park bag with other essentials.

 

[mouserrificmom]

We are just back from a weeks stay at the Yacht Club. I so appreciated everyone's input before we left and am sorry that I was just having too much fun enjoying my children and being back at Disney to post live updates, but I will recap the week for those it may help.

We arrived Sunday August 8 and left yesterday, August 15. Crowds dropped very noticeably around Thursday of last week. Magic Kingdom was uncomfortably busy last Monday, but when we were there just this past Saturday we walked on just about everything except for Mine Train which was posted at 35 and we waited about 25. We went on Thursday evening just to watch Happily Ever After because my daughter wanted to see it from the kingdom one last time. It was just as packed as I have ever seen it. We made a point of finding a spot just in FRONT of the tape line they were just putting out around 8:15 p.m at the top of main street in between Casey's and Ice Cream Parlor which turned out to be a very good idea for us as cast members stood at the curb on either side only allowing those who kept moving to cross the path it created - which provide us with 6 feet of space in front of us for the whole show. I would have been very uncomfortable otherwise. It was jam packed behind us and in front of us.

We were successful both times at getting boarding passes for Rise at 7 a.m. On Tuesday we were in BG 29 and on Friday 53. We were using Disney WiFi from inside our room at the Yacht Club. No spoilers here - but it was great! Though the park was noticably less crowded on Friday, our group (53) was not called until after 4 - on Tuesday we were off the ride by noon so it seemed to be moving quite a bit slower.

Overall, we found compliance about rules to be pretty good. In the longer queues there were some mask drops, but for the most part people were conscientious and respectful of other guests. Cast members were frequently reminding those who were not following the rules and there reminders were followed.

I don't think we really missed the FastPass, and apprecaited being a bit more flexilbe with our plans that are usually so regimented with FastPass and dining reservations - we also enjoyed finally walking through some of the Queues that we have never seen - most notably FOP because we have never ridden these without FastPass - though some lines were longer than we usually tolerate waiting, they all moved constantly which made the waits more tolerable, you always felt like you were making progress. We did not wait more than 45 minutes for any ride - aside from Slinky - which ended up being about an hour when it went down briefly while we were online.

We LOVED mobile order. Especially in the Magic Kingdom where is has historically been so difficult to find seating. We found that they would only allow you into the restaurant if you presented confirmation of an order - and this absolutley helped with traffic flow. We were never without a seat. The only exception to this was one meal at Backlot Express where they did allow people to come in and order at the counters - this was the only QS place we ate at where we had to hunt for seating. I am certain it was because it was a blending of mobile and on the spot orders. Even with Mobile Order, when we were hot and thirsty we were always accepted in to a designated pick up area for fresh cups of ice water.

Some things we noticed at 'Ohana: The restaurant was full but not packed for dinner, and many tables had signs on them saying that the table was not being used for health and safety reasons. Interestingly, we had breakfast at 'Ohana a few days after dinner and the tables were all filled and none of them had the signs on them ? Not sure if something changed between those few days with their staffing but I thought it was curious.

New security is so much quicker - the bag checks always took so long - being able to walk through the metal detector with your park bag on your shoulders was so much faster and more efficient.

The cast members most DEFINITELY will tell you to "move forward and fill in all the available space" - this was the only thing that I felt was a bit irresponsibile, but despite the requests and some compliant movement that would follow - people are more conscious of personal space and we did not experience any "shoulder to shoulder" crowding in those spaces. MK fireworks is the only time we felt too crowded.

Despite the fact that we are all vaccinated, I was worried about traveling to central Florida with the most recent news but I am so glad we went. We were careful to follow the rules and brought our own hand sanitizer and used it after every queue and ride......we all felt and still feel great but are keeping a low profile this week to be cautious.

The magic is STILL there - and I am hopeful that as we recover from the pandemic, the things we really miss the most will return.

 

[cam8n]

Here now since Sat. Having an amazing trip! With the exception of SDD at HS yesterday, the rides have been basically walk-ons. Our day today at AK was just about perfect! FoPx2, EEx2, Navi x3, a great safari with lots of active animals (and so exciting to heat the lion’s roar!) Dino, TTBaB, both trails, animation class, affection section, FotLK, had a very delicious lunch at Tusker House, and did some photo pass shoots. All at a nice leisurely pace Interspersed with many snack breaks. We started walking out around 5, hit a few shops, walked right on to our bus, back at the YC around 6 just as it started to rain.

We were considering postponing (for the 3rd time), but decided since we are all adults and all vaccinated to “trust the science“ and go. So glad we did bc the lack of crowds is amazing. We are of course still wary of COVID and are taking all the precautions, but we really try to put it out of our head and not think about it too much. Because the crowds are so low it’s been a little easier to self distance, and we have had pretty good luck with the people behind keeping a distance as well. We are seeing lots of noses in the lines though, and there are plenty of situations where you’re still all smushed together (rope drop, preshows) While we are seeing plenty of kids it does seem like much fewer than normal, and while I’m making no judgments, we would not feel comfortable bringing little ones who were unvaccinated. We brought some tests with us in case any of us start to feel under the weather, and we will test before going back to work.
Looking forward to Boo Bash tomorrow! And praying that we can all stay healthy!

We are feeling the same way. No way would we feel comfortable bringing an unvaccinated child. We're at universal now andmove to Disney end of the week. I wou

 

[Quilty]

AK was crazy today. Everything was a walk on. Even FOP at about 4pm was 20min. We did it, and it was 20min to walk on. No waiting at all unless you call watching the pre-show videos a “wait.” Everything here even EE was 5-10 minutes. Nomad had a 5 minute wait list (which was actually 0 minutes). Waits even less than a year ago.

 

[Quilty]

Just came here because I saw FOP was a 15 minute wait on the app and I couldn't believe it!!

It’s actually zero because it takes that long to get to the ride. I’ve never seen anything like it.