Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[kylenne]

How do you like Gran Destino??? Dahlia? Three Bridges?

It’s amazing!! Definitely feels like a deluxe (and frankly I like it better than YC other than location lol). Pictures just do not do the tower justice. I haven’t been to Dahlia yet but I got takeout on Friday night from Three Bridges and it was fantastic despite not getting utensils lol. The smoked paprika fries were so good!

I definitely want to come back with gf and try a split with their club level.

 

[Farro]

It’s amazing!! Definitely feels like a deluxe (and frankly I like it better than YC other than location lol). Pictures just do not do the tower justice. I haven’t been to Dahlia yet but I got takeout on Friday night from Three Bridges and it was fantastic despite not getting utensils lol. The smoked paprika fries were so good!

I definitely want to come back with gf and try a split with their club level.

Woohoo!!!

Glad to read buses are going well so far, hope it continues! I know it's kind of hit and miss, so we are just prepared to Uber if we need to.

Have fun and be safe!

 

[kylenne]

Woohoo!!!

Glad to read buses are going well so far, hope it continues! I know it's kind of hit and miss, so we are just prepared to Uber if we need to.

Have fun and be safe!

Yeah, the buses were the only thing I was worried about given the nightmarish experience I had at POFQ the 1 time I stayed there but so far so good. Buses are plentiful for rope drop and have basically been empty, there’s basically no competition for those first buses out. The tower is the last stop on the way out, coming back it’s been hit or miss. From Epcot on Friday night tower was first dropped off but last night from MK after closing we were last. But it really didn’t take long at all. I’ve only taken 1 Lyft and that was to head to Epcot real quick when I got off DME.

 

[Leigh L]

Best advice I can give is get on the first bus of the day. We arrived at 7:05 and from there it was just running of the bulls lol.

In general I’ve been really impressed with the transportation at Coronado, I’ve done well with buses at rope drop so far.

I'm so happy to hear this, thank you! This is one of the resorts we stay at the most and we've had some pretty miserable rope drop experiences in the morning in the past year at GDT (a couple of good ones though too.)

We stayed there last week for two days, but were done with park days by then and non-rope drop times were pretty awesome - didn't wait long for any buses - but I was wondering if rope drop had improved.

Have fun the rest of the day!!

 

[kaylasmom07]

Not nearly as fun tbh but it’s the same brief guide around the parks/DS concept. I mention this here though because if anyone is still avoiding Rise of the Resistance spoilers there are some major ones…it gives away whole chunks of that ride. I would have been upset if I hadn’t ridden it yet.

Thank you so much for this warning!

 

[disneyseniors]

Yeah, the buses were the only thing I was worried about given the nightmarish experience I had at POFQ the 1 time I stayed there but so far so good. Buses are plentiful for rope drop and have basically been empty, there’s basically no competition for those first buses out. The tower is the last stop on the way out, coming back it’s been hit or miss. From Epcot on Friday night tower was first dropped off but last night from MK after closing we were last. But it really didn’t take long at all. I’ve only taken 1 Lyft and that was to head to Epcot real quick when I got off DME.

We have been staying at POFQ for the past 3 years, so I was wondering about your nightmarish experience with their buses? We haven't had a problem but maybe we were lucky? Anyway , would like to know what happened.

 

[scrappinginontario]

We have been staying at POFQ for the past 3 years, so I was wondering about your nightmarish experience with their buses? We haven't had a problem but maybe we were lucky? Anyway , would like to know what happened.

May I please request we take that conversation out of this thread as POFQ has not re-opened since it closed in March 2020 so is not beneficial to the Here Now, Just Back thread.

Thanks

 

[kylenne]

I am back at the resort for my break. Waited maybe 5 minutes for a bus back. Tower was the last stop but still not very long to get there. I caught the 10:30 Diet FotLK show and was pleasantly surprised that I could get in despite rolling up at 10:10. That’s a huge change from the last trip…capacity makes all the difference. Crowds (and heat) were really starting to build when I left the park around noon. Even if you are not a rope drop then resort break person/group I would call it mandatory for AK. Even more than the others there was such a stark difference in weather and atmosphere between the first couple hours of operation vs. the people strolling in at noon.

 

[disneyseniors]

Deleted, don’t want to go OT.

Oops, sorry about that. I guess curiousity got the best of me. Have a great day I am enjoying your trips reports!

 

[disneyseniors]

May I please request we take that conversation out of this thread as POFQ has not re-opened since it closed in March 2020 so is not beneficial to the Here Now, Just Back thread.

Thanks

Oops, sorry about that. I do realize it has nothing to do with trip reports. I guess curiosity got me

 

[cstorm65]

We are here now and wanted to give our thoughts as we've now done each of the four parks this week. We are staying at Pop Century this week and moving to Bay Lake Tower next week, so I will report back if there is anything different there.

Magic Kingdom
We went here on Friday, 7/2. We got to the Pop Century bus stop at 7:35 and the line was already pretty long. We ended up getting on the 3rd bus at 7:51, which was fine. We got to MK by 8:05 and they opened the gates just as we walked through security at 8:10. We weren't planning Seven Dwarfs today so we took our time taking pics on Main Street and the hub, which was awesome! We lined up at the Liberty Square bridge at around 8:35 and they did not open until 9:00 right on the dot. We did Peter Pan (10 min wait), then Big Thunder (walk on), Big Thunder again (walk on), then got in line for Splash. Would have been about a 20 minute wait, but it broke down as we got to the front. They gave everyone in line a FP for later. It was about 9:45 after this.

Epcot
Our only RD at Epcot so far we came from the front of the park since we had breakfast at Whispering Canyon first. The first bus to Epcot from WL came at 9:53. We got in line at the gates at Epcot at 10:10 and the gates opened at 10:20. We headed for Test Track. They held us by Guardians until 10:34. Word of warning...stay to the left right along the wall and you can be in the shade while you wait. At 10:34 they moved us up closer to Test Track about 300 feet and stopped us again. Then at 10:43 we moved into the Test Track queue and the ride opened. We waited 34 minutes including the pre-show. After test track we did Frozen at 11:30 and it took us 45 minutes.

Hollywood Studios
We got to the Skyliner station at Pop at 7:35 and waited 5 minutes. We waited 8 minutes to then get on the Skyliner from the hub to HS. Security at DHS opened at 8:03 and they let us immediately through the gates into the park. We were held in sections based on what ride we were going to until 8:30. We were heading to Slinky Dog and they started walking us at 8:30. It reminded us of the old Toy Story Dash days here! We walked and on this you'll want to stay to the right upon enter Toy Story Land. If you have a stroller just get into it. I recommend having one adult get out of line and park it in the stroller area for Toy Story Mania and then rejoin your party in line for Slinky Dog. It will be harder to park the stroller in the Slinky Dog area and this gets that out of the way! We got on Slinky in 35 minutes and then headed in to Alien Swirling Saucers (5 min wait). Then we went to Toy Story Mania and waited 18 minutes. It was about 10:00 once we finished these three rides.

Animal Kingdom
We did this park today, 7/4. We were at the Pop bus stop by 6:35. The first bus came at 6:47. We were at security at 7:08 and got in line at the gates, which they then opened at 7:12. We went to the right through Oasis as everyone was going left. I'd highly recommend that especially if you have a stroller. The right side had no one on it and they both join back up at the same spot at the tree. The left side was jam packed. We were about 15 people back from the front I would guess at the rope on the bridge to Pandora. At 7:23 they walked us forward and actually formed the line for Flight of Passage, but held the line right at the start of the queue until the ride opened at 7:33. We had no wait other than the time it took to walk through the queue. We were on and off by 8:00. We then walked over and did Expedition Everest twice with no wait. We then were going to head to Dinosaur because the Safari was still not open, but by the time we got to the Tree the Safari was open. So we went there at about 8:40. It was posted 25 minutes, but was maybe a 5 minute wait was all. There was a bunch of tarps and stuff as well as trucks around the Lion area, no lions out. Not sure if they are just doing work or if something was going on. It was 9:15 when we got off and we headed to Starbucks!

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

We went to the French bakery around noon last week and there were only a couple of people in line in front of us. We waited a good 20 minutes or so before giving up because the line didn’t budge, even one party. There were only 3 people behind the counter, one helping people who couldn’t seem to make up their mind, another helping someone but the CM was walking and moving extremely slowly, like she was half asleep or daydreaming, and the other was very slowly and delicately situating and rearranging pastries in the display cases like she was creating an art display and was the only person in the room. I get and appreciate that, but it’s frustrating to watch when you’re hungry and just want to spend your money. It was a very strange experience.

Similar experience last night . One of the workers there was making a spectacle of the gloves not fitting his hands. Each attempt to put them on became more exaggerated.

 

[kylenne]

More great news: at Epcot right now and was just able to request B1 on Soarin!!! The CM just had me step to the side for the next load like pre-covid.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Buses at OKW have been running right on time and not crowded.

I'd recommend wearing a mask in places like World of Disney - lots of coughing and sneezing.
The line to get in was just streaming people through. No waiting.

 

[Mango7100]

At AK right now. AK is back to normal rope drop procedures. I’m in the first group of guests holding on the bridge to Pandora.

I would assume 95% of people at RD are headed to FOP, does that sound about right? We are going tomorrow AM and FOP was one and done for us due to DH motion sickness, so DD8 really wants to try to ride Everest multiple times in a row in the AM

 

[kylenne]

I would assume 95% of people at RD are headed to FOP, does that sound about right? We are going tomorrow AM and FOP was one and done for us due to DH motion sickness, so DD8 really wants to try to ride Everest multiple times in a row in the AM

Yep. I actually rode Everest twice in a row and that was after FOP and the Safari. At park open you should be golden.

 

[Mango7100]

Yep. I actually rode Everest twice in a row and that was after FOP and the Safari. At park open you should be golden.

Thanks! That and finishing those Wilderness Explorer badges are the biggest priority for her

 

[JennLTX]

First of all I want to thank EVERYONE who has been so awesome about reporting their experiences. We head to the House of Mouse on Friday, and my anxiety level is substantially lower than it would have been without you amazing folks.

Second, I've been hearing about surprisingly long waits to get a table at Nomad Lounge; has anyone recently at AK noticed this? One of my absolute favorite things to do anywhere is sit on that fantastic deck with a Tempting Tigress and watch the world go by. I'd say it's totally worth a wait, but having never had to do that previously will make for an interesting experience. Any input is appreciated!!!

 

[sabrecmc]

We walked up to Nomad at about 10:40 a couple days ago and had no problem getting a table wherever we wanted. One of our best lunches! I also enjoy the Tempting Tigress! Just get there early is my advice.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

First of all I want to thank EVERYONE who has been so awesome about reporting their experiences. We head to the House of Mouse on Friday, and my anxiety level is substantially lower than it would have been without you amazing folks.

Second, I've been hearing about surprisingly long waits to get a table at Nomad Lounge; has anyone recently at AK noticed this? One of my absolute favorite things to do anywhere is sit on that fantastic deck with a Tempting Tigress and watch the world go by. I'd say it's totally worth a wait, but having never had to do that previously will make for an interesting experience. Any input is appreciated!!!

I walked by it twice that day, maybe around 11 and 12 and they had lines out into the sidewalk on Thursday. But I’ve never been, so I don’t know if that’s long or not. But I remember being surprised people were already waiting outside so early in the day.