First I should say we have been dvc members since 1996, and have been well over 70 times as we were Fl residents until 20010, moved first to NC. Then to SC ( Publix), and always made the trip at least once if not twice a year until Covid. ( We tried to count once and lost it about 70). This visit was not a good experience, however, I will start with the good things .
We arrived at Boardwalk about 11am. room not ready but turned in our luggage, checked at front desk as none of us in our party trust the cell phone check in , too many bad experiences, LOL> My Granddaughter was thrilled when they gave her some little characters! And we got the lay of the land with new rules, what was open at Boardwalk ( things are changing daily), and what remained closed.
Then off we went to catch the boat to Hollywood studios, happy to say the boats are faster than usual and running on time! It was hot, so we sat on the back bench, outside. it was great!
Walked into Hollywood studios and were surprised at how few people we saw. Many of the stores on the main drag are open, and nice to walk through and get out of the heat and sun. Not crowded at all. Everyone we saw were wearing their masks when they were suppose to, and socially distancing, except when walking on the street, however it's easy to avoid a big clump of people, so no mask down worries at all outside. WE saw no problems at any time in 3 days with covid protocol , NONE! Happy to tell you .
As we round the corner to go to tower of terror and rock and roller coaster, we immediately saw the problem, no one on main streets, because they are all either online for the big rides, or in star wars. It's NUTS! Tower of Terror wasn't too bad because most of that line is inside, and lots to look at, the wait was about 30-40 min. so not undoable for old ladies and a 8 yr old. Next was Aerosmith, we took one look and all 3 of us just said no. at 2pm/4pm in the afternoon and the line was 1;30 min long! No Joke and full of angry people, mad at no fast pass, and that they couldn't get in the virtual que for star wars at 2pm, (in fact Star Wars was so jammed they didn't open it up for more at 2pm at all.) So people paid $100 bucks for a ticket and wait in line for an hour, in the heat, let me tell ya, it was not a happy place. and the cast members were not happy either. It must be difficult to deal with angry people all day long. So spending 5 hrs. at Hollywood studios, with many things closed and several main things either with no availability, or well over an hr. of wait time.( OH the fresh market place is now open BTW on your way to TOF>) Anyone thinking that's worth the money must be able to burn 100's, that's not me, or many people I know. However ALL the stores are open, so you can come spend more money... I can't.
so, 5 hrs, and headed back to Boardwalk at 4;45 pm, after talking to several cast members and asking if lines went down later, ( answer no, it gets worse), again the boats were only about 15 min apart instead of the usual 20-25, and moving faster than usual too. Lot's of complaining heard on our boat back, lots of staff apologizing, a kids crying as it was the last day of a 4 day trip and she didn't get to ride slinky dog, or see star wars ),
We got back to our room, and had spaghetti dinner with garlic toast. I brought sauce from home so all I had to do was boil the noodles. Dinner was ready in 10 min. cleaned up dinner changed clothes and were in the pool by 6:30 and NO LINE ON THAT SLIDE! Madyson got to go about 6 times in a row, climb the stairs and down the slide, In fact most of the evening she only had 3-4 people in front of her another great, unheard of, thing for that amazing slide. Plenty of clean open tables, Bar open until 11 with ridiculously priced drinks, ( brought my drinks with me), she swam from 6 until around 9pm, then upstairs into that shower with great shampoo and conditioner, and off to sleep. She was happy, and that was really all that mattered.
Next day Epcot. and world showcase... not worth the money time or effort unless you love to walk a 1/2 mile out of your way to get anywhere, Epcot is so torn up, they really should just close it for now. also, There is no bus to boardwalk, from Epcot, None , so you walk from France, up one side into to Epcot, around blocked off pathways that are regrettable, to get to a few things that are open, or restaurants that if you don't have a reservation don't even try, all the way down the bus stops because of the FIVE cast members asked, none of them told me no busses to boardwalk any longer, a bus driver at stop #20 told me there hasn't been a bus to Boardwalk in a couple years, then with screaming blisters, my fibro acting up now and killing me, I tried to get a cab or uber, NOPE, I tried to rent a
scooter, nope, I had to walk my self the 3.2 miles back to the boat back to Boardwalk. Actually, the boat from from entrance to showcase, that goes across the lake was running for the first time, but no one told me that. Why? Probably because they didn't know. I saw it moving across the lake as I was in England, too late to help me. I schlepped back to my room, and had a full blown melt down! I was alone as my sister and granddaughter had gotten in line for Test Track. ( the same bus issue happened to them, BTW so all the same cast members were still not telling anyone no Bus to Boardwalk, and they had to walk all the way and back, tried for a uber, or cab or anything, nope, and then had to walk all the way back, too. It was a night mare, except for Soarin, we only had a 15 min wait for that as we hit it right at lunch hr. when we came out from the ride, the wait time had jumped to 45 min. and we were told it had been avg. a hr . that's NUTS! s We also went in spaceship earth, or as we call it, Big Silver ball and it's running, but about half of it is under construction. The 8 yr old liked it, and we enjoyed the break, after trying to figure out the best way to do what we wanted and not wear ourselves out walking for 15 min. between each ride. There are no touch screen or anything touch open, in short Test Track, Soarin',and Misson, are the only reason to venture into Epcot, IMHO, (I would take monorail to epcot, do that and then monorail back to wherever, then use the sky thing to get to world showcase as it lets you off between England and France,) had we understood that, from the beginning that's what we would have done and we would NOT have stayed at Boardwalk, as 1/2 the stuff is closed. The no bus to Boardwalk really ruined it for us. IN fact, WDW is not handling this new situation well at all, new cast members, not enough cast members, and daily changes and a complete lack of communication of said changes is a chief C/O by all staff we spoke with too. In fact one lady who has worked at Disney for years thinks a big part of the problem is all decisions made come out of California, and right now, things are so different in the two states, with no one in FL. to see for themselves how things are NOT working at all, I doubt they even have a understanding. As a family we are very happy we are able to use our DVC points elsewhere, and universal seems to have a much better plan, so perhaps we will venture over there when the summer heat and humidity has past it's peak. Plus, we can see the fireworks from Epcot from our home lanai. so... ( no nightly show yet, but they have been practicing once every couple weeks.)
OH; insider tip, as of now, they have no plans for fireworks this 4th of July. A long time supervisor told me she really doubts they will have them this year, as California will for sure not have them this year and because decisions like that usually go for both Parks, ... It depends on one thing, if Disney decides to only allow vaccinated people into the park. and you have to have your card. They are going to do that in CA. but FL. with a GOP run Gov. could be holding things up for WDW.
so in summary, as a DVC member, if you are going because you love the atmosphere and plan to mainly stay at your hotel, you will have a great time. IF you have never been to the parks before, please wait, as they are nothing like they will be again once this nightmare of covid has passed, I promise. The front part of Epcot is a total bust don't bother, really unless you are younger than 35 or in fantastic shape, or love to wait in very very long lines for the 3-4 things open, wait until they reopen, and have fast pass back. World showcase is beautiful, the food is good, what there is of it, it's a nice walk, as many things remain closed, the new ride in France for kids is closed until Oct. For me, to spend 100 bucks to walk through a beautiful place and spend more money on food, drink and wait in even more lines for it ,not worth it. However we had a unhappy little girl who was in dire need of cheering up, so in that respect, it was well worth it. We didn't even give Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom a try as, in talking to cast members, and other guests, it was difficult to find anyone who wasn't unhappy and disappointed. (We cancelled our reservation so others could have it.) Which is sad, as this has always been my happy place. I love Disney World, and will def give it another chance or two, in fact we have a planned trip in Oct. with a child that will need the line exceptions, so that trip should be ok. But my best advice, again is wait on the parks. esp. Epcot, part of that park, it is NOT ready to be open, IMHO.
A couple more good things, The general store is open at Boardwalk, and we got a cotton Candy flavored cup cake that was SO GOOD! Boardwalk bakery is now open, but best to order via your app. the pizza slice is open, but pretty busy . The Italian restaurant is open but you need a reservation and seating is extremely limited. You can order via app to go. This was our experience, so need need to argue about it, if yours was different, or good, that's great!
