Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[HikingFam]

Super interesting that HS may not be starting rides early anymore. It does seem that will just add to the build up of crowds. I will say that I was annoyed during our last trip at how everything opened earlier than was posted. If you weren’t on these boards, you would show up at 10 thinking you were right on time, but in reality you are at least an hour behind. But I’m also not a fan of letting people in and making them stand in line for an hour before rides start (AK did this, but the other parks didn’t).

 

[bad91922]

Just finished our HS day today. We took an uber to boardwalk around 7:00 and were at HS by 7:15 ish. Third group in line for the day. We waited until about 8:45 when they moved us to temp checks. There were probably 300+ people behind us at that point. We waited at temp check until about 9:00 and then they let us scan into the park and go through bag check. We booked it to MMRR right away and got on the second train of the day at 9:10 ish. We were off of MMRR by 9:15 ish and headed towards sunset boulevard. When we got to Tower of Terror it was a walk on. Off by 9:30. We then went to RR which we waited about 5-10 minutes. Off by 9:45. We then headed towards GE to be ready for MFSR. Got boarding group 11 for Rise and hopped right into MFSR. Waited about 25 minutes and were off by 10:30. Knocked out 4 of the biggest rides within 2 hours.

We then chilled out for a while. Rode Star Tours which was posted 45 but waited about 15, rode TSM which was posted 30 minutes and waited about 20. Got in line for muppets with a 30 min wait and waited about 45. It was our longest wait of the day.

By around 2 we were able to hop on rides again with shorter wait times. We hopped in line for Tower of Terror with a posted 30 minute wait and waited about 25. Rode TSM 4 times in a row with about a 10 minute wait each time. It was posted at 30. Rode Swirling Saucers in about 5 which was posted at 25.

By that point we were tired and just wanted to chill. We hung out until around 6:45 and hopped in line for Slinky Dog. Wait was posted 50 minutes and we waited about 30 minutes. Headed to skyliner to get back to Pop and waited about 15 minutes.

Overall it was amazing. The park seemed crowded, but the first two hours were crucial for us getting to knock so many things out without waits. We rode everything in the park, some more than once, and our longest wait all day was around 45 minutes.

MK tomorrow and we plan on ubering to contemporary to walk over for rope drop. Does anyone know if they're starting rides early at MK like they are at HS??

ps. shoutout to the disboards for the tips on how to do HS in the morning. It was amazing and couldn't have done it so well without reading this thread!!!!

Did you pick up your mobile order or just place it to get dropped off? Curious on timing but just saw another post today saying they aren’t opening lines early any longer do this strategymight be out

 

[PanchoX1]

not operating rides prior to ten seems like a social distancing nightmare. Especially since you have to be there before 10 to have a BG shot. Hopefully it's an experiment and they will realize the increased risk in certain lines. Probably fine to do in a outdoor line.

 

[disneyseniors]

Is the exit to Rockin Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror pretty simple to wait at if you’re waiting for someone to get off? My 10 year old wants to ride both of these (I’m a wuss so I’ll sit them out!) in the morning so the plan is to go right over there at opening so he can ride both right away. Looks like that’s the best time for those right now wait time wise? Will it be easy enough for me to wait in line with him but decline to ride and wait at the exit? He rides Incredicoaster and Guardians at DLR by himself all the time but he likes me to wait in line with him and then I just hang by the exit until he’s done.

There are a couple of benches where the ride enters the gift shop at the RRC, right near where they exit the ride car. I found it by accident and it was comfortable to wait for my husband. There is also a tv monitor which is fun to watch
I also had to sit on the walls by the entrance to the RRC area once, and it was fine.
As far as at TOT, I sat on the walls or benches outside of the ride when I couldn't ride. I usually ride TOT, as it is alot of fun! Hope this helps.

 

[bakenatj]

Super interesting that HS is not starting rides early anymore. It does seem that will just add to the build up of crowds. I will say that I was annoyed during our last trip at how everything opened earlier than was posted. If you weren’t on these boards, you would show up at 10 thinking you were right on time, but in reality you are at least an hour behind. But I’m also not a fan of letting people in and making them stand in line for an hour before rides start (AK did this, but the other parks didn’t).

Just my own thoughts, but it makes better sense to open at your official time than some mysterious time. Managing the expectations of guests is HUGE, and you don't want to tick off a vast majority of your guest who shows up at official opening only to find out that people have been on rides for the past 30-45 minutes. That is a PR nightmare in my opinion.

 

[yulilin3]

Super interesting that HS is not starting rides early anymore. It does seem that will just add to the build up of crowds. I will say that I was annoyed during our last trip at how everything opened earlier than was posted. If you weren’t on these boards, you would show up at 10 thinking you were right on time, but in reality you are at least an hour behind. But I’m also not a fan of letting people in and making them stand in line for an hour before rides start (AK did this, but the other parks didn’t).

Where did i miss that they're not opening rides early anymore?

 

[Befferk]

Just my own thoughts, but it makes better sense to open at your official time than some mysterious time. Managing the expectations of guests is HUGE, and you don't want to tick off a vast majority of your guest who shows up at official opening only to find out that people have been on rides for the past 30-45 minutes. That is a PR nightmare in my opinion.

I believe though that they've been doing it to try to spread people out more than having everyone there at a very specific time and gradually let them in as they arrive. Yes, some people don't know about it, but that's what helps spread people out more.

 

[lorileahb]

I believe though that they've been doing it to try to spread people out more than having everyone there at a very specific time and gradually let them in as they arrive. Yes, some people don't know about it, but that's what helps spread people out more.

And it can benefits AP holders / frequent visitors / people staying on site when the other benefits for those things are quite a bit less right now.

 

[Befferk]

Where did i miss that they're not opening rides early anymore?

Somewhere in the last few pages in this thread, someone is posting that they are there this morning and the CMs were standing outside the rides with signs that said rides would not start until 10am.

 

[brockash]

930. We are still first in line for railway. If other rides are starting early I’m gonna be annoyed lol! Guess I could be at work..

Did they end up starting it before 10? In Sept. we were 2nd in line for Test Track and they had a few CM's repeat over and over that we could get in line and that they'll move the line inside at some point, but that the ride wouldn't start until 11. We were off the ride by 10:50, so obviously they still started it before 11. It's so hard to judge or get accurate information from Disney.

 

[yulilin3]

Somewhere in the last few pages in this thread, someone is posting that they are there this morning and the CMs were standing outside the rides with signs that said rides would not start until 10am.

So today? I wouldn't say that they completely changed the procedures until we get reports in the next couple of days

 

[LSUfan4444]

Just my own thoughts, but it makes better sense to open at your official time than some mysterious time. Managing the expectations of guests is HUGE, and you don't want to tick off a vast majority of your guest who shows up at official opening only to find out that people have been on rides for the past 30-45 minutes. That is a PR nightmare in my opinion.

Their stuck in the middle of trying to remain as safe as possible, trying to look like they are remaining as safe as possible and trying to maximize the guest experience. If they let everyone know what time they will open it will no doubt increase capacity at the gates for people who want to be in "early" so by just doing it randomly it will spread some of that out.

My $.02 is that I think too many guests get caught up in the experience of other guests and base their own success off of that. From what, where and when to eat, the BEST fireworks spot, the shortest wait times, the most FP+, the BEST photopass, etc and I think it creates alot of undue pressure constantly trying to compare their experience to others.

 

[Befferk]

So today? I wouldn't say that they completely changed the procedures until we get reports in the next couple of days

Exactly. They might be testing it to see how it affects crowds, or just trying to mix things up again so people don't expect things at a certain time all the time (again, to help spread people out). My theory anyway, lol.

 

[bakenatj]

Their stuck in the middle of trying to remain as safe as possible, trying to look like they are remaining as safe as possible and trying to maximize the guest experience. If they let everyone know what time they will open it will no doubt increase capacity at the gates for people who want to be in "early" so by just doing it randomly it will spread some of that out.

My $.02 is that I think too many guests get caught up in the experience of other guests and base their own success off of that. From what, where and when to eat, the BEST fireworks spot, the shortest wait times, the most FP+, the BEST photopass, etc and I think it creates alot of undue pressure constantly trying to compare their experience to others.

Agree completely on expectations. I would think there are ways to control crowd flow at points of entry, but maybe the $$ don't make sense to allocate to that. People are stir crazy and want to get back to normal life, and Disney is a big part of that. Glad I'm not a higher-up at Disney Parks

 

[LSUfan4444]

I would think there are ways to control crowd flow at points of entry, but maybe the $$ don't make sense to allocate to that

 

[HikingFam]

Where did i miss that they're not opening rides early anymore?

My apologies, will edit my post to clarify.

 

[PanchoX1]

Just my own thoughts, but it makes better sense to open at your official time than some mysterious time. Managing the expectations of guests is HUGE, and you don't want to tick off a vast majority of your guest who shows up at official opening only to find out that people have been on rides for the past 30-45 minutes. That is a PR nightmare in my opinion.

Having an outbreak traced to the resort/parks would be a much bigger PR nightmare.

 

[yulilin3]

My apologies, will edit my post to clarify.

It's alright, i just thought it was announced somewhere

 

[bakenatj]

Having an outbreak traced to the resort/parks would be a much bigger PR nightmare.

I wonder about this to be completely honest. The size of crowds at the parks now leads me to believe that it's almost impossible. We want to get back so bad that we've allowed ourselves to think it's okay. I am assuming that they have people doing risk analysis and doing their best to limit risk, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking it's a bubble. Just to clarify, this doesn't stop me from going, I personally feel fine in crowds, doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Rnrc started at 9:15 this morning. We were the first people in the first car