Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[DanielNYC]

Getting boarding group 1 for RotR really got the day off to a good start.

Great write up. Other than making sure that you're ready to go right at 10:00AM, any other suggestions/tips on getting a boarding group? Did you have to refresh a bunch of times in order to get the "join" button? I wish I could see exactly what it's going to look like so I don't screw it up!

 

[FinallyFL]

Around 9:15 this morning the line for the Skyliner at the IG at Epcot was running out onto the bridge to the Boardwalk. I was back in my room at 9:30 so I don't know how quickly the line cleared. Last Thursday, I walked from the BWV; I left my room at 9:15 and was sitting by RNR at 9:40.

 

[Chisoxcollector]

Great write up. Other than making sure that you're ready to go right at 10:00AM, any other suggestions/tips on getting a boarding group? Did you have to refresh a bunch of times in order to get the "join" button? I wish I could see exactly what it's going to look like so I don't screw it up!

I closed my app and reopened it at 9:59am. I had my finger hovering over the join button, and the second the clock on my phone changed to 10am I clicked Join. I just followed the prompts from there. I didn't have to refresh, and my party showed up correctly. Everything went very quickly, each screen loading almost instantly.

 

[DanielNYC]

I closed my app and reopened it at 9:59am. I had my finger hovering over the join button, and the second the clock on my phone changed to 10am I clicked Join. I just followed the prompts from there. I didn't have to refresh, and my party showed up correctly. Everything went very quickly, each screen loading almost instantly.

Thank you! Just to be clear, you had to add the members of your party one by one, right? It doesn't just automatically populate the request to join with your party.

 

[Chisoxcollector]

That's interesting! We just got back Friday, and I haven't had a chance to write up my report yet. We would have ranked Epcot the best, followed by AK, MK, HS, and only if you are a risk-taker go to DS. At Epcot we easily managed physical distancing even though we did see a few people walking around masks down while drinking, this was before they clarified the rule that you had to be stationary. Epcot (World Showcase specifically) was the only park I saw cast members walking around whose sole purpose was to enforce the rules.

It's so funny how different the experiences can be between different groups. For all I know, the big maskless groups I saw were immediately reprimanded as soon as I walked past them. But our second Epcot day was quite a bit more crowded than our first, and with such a large quantity of the maskless people I decided it just isn't worth the risk. Hollywood Studios was the other park that felt kind of risky, only because it was so much more crowded which made avoiding the jerks harder. I felt safe (as safe as possible anyway) at MK and AK because it was so easy to avoid other people, other than in the queues and while exiting attractions.

 

[Chisoxcollector]

Thank you! Just to be clear, you had to add the members of your party one by one, right? It doesn't just automatically populate the request to join with your party.

Yes, I had to manually add my wife to the party after clicking Join.

 

[DanielNYC]

Yes, I had to manually add my wife to the party after clicking Join.

Got it. Very helpful. Thank you again.

 

[Dave006]

Thank you! Just to be clear, you had to add the members of your party one by one, right? It doesn't just automatically populate the request to join with your party.

No. The first "Check box" is a Select All to select everyone in your list but if you only have 1 person on your list it takes the same time to click the check box on an individual name.

Dave

 

[prs_14]

I closed my app and reopened it at 9:59am. I had my finger hovering over the join button, and the second the clock on my phone changed to 10am I clicked Join. I just followed the prompts from there. I didn't have to refresh, and my party showed up correctly. Everything went very quickly, each screen loading almost instantly.

Out of curiosity, where were you physically standing inside the park when you did this?

 

[LovingPooh]

Around 9:15 this morning the line for the Skyliner at the IG at Epcot was running out onto the bridge to the Boardwalk. I was back in my room at 9:30 so I don't know how quickly the line cleared. Last Thursday, I walked from the BWV; I left my room at 9:15 and was sitting by RNR at 9:40.

I love the walk from BWV to Hollywood Studios. It is very relaxing to me.

 

[Malela9]

So I’m on our flight back after 6 days in the parks and here are my thoughts.
Social distancing was better than anything you could reasonably expect. And mask compliance was very high. Don’t get me wrong if you are trying to find an issue you can find one, but overall my wife and I were beyond pleased with that aspect.

The parks themselves are running I’d guess 20% capacity. So even with the rides not at full capacity wait times are so low. The app does not do justice to how quick the lines are.
Food choices are limited. I’d guess 60% of restaurants are open. And everything has a slightly limited menu. Not a huge deal, but it should be brought up.
I would say that there is less “magic” then normal, but that being said I would go back next week if I could. For people who have been a bunch it’s so nice just to get to ride attractions with out having to plan fast passes like crazy and let that dictate your entire trip. We had a great time and that’s with 90+ deg temps and wearing a mask while pushing a stroller.

Great post. Getting on a plane tomorrow. How did you feel about flying to Florida?

 

[Chisoxcollector]

Out of curiosity, where were you physically standing inside the park when you did this?

Yes, I was well inside of the park.

 

[prs_14]

Yes, I was well inside of the park.

Sorry - I was interested to know approximately or specifically where inside the park you were? Wondering if there is some "magic" to where you were standing! No worries if you would rather not reveal and thanks for all of your feedback provided here - very helpful to those us still planning to come down in August.

 

[Love Ft Wilderness]

It seems what it boils down to is if you arrive at a resort via some mode of Disney transportation; you can get in/eat/shop. If you're driving and trying to park; there seems to be more of an issue.

I'm hoping to make dining reservations at the Poly or GF as a day guest. Does anybody think it would be a problem to park at the resort of the reservation? We might try to walk over to the other resort for shopping after that. Has anybody tried this successfully?

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

On our way home. Here’s our experience. We arrived at Contemporary Thursday night (Friday morning 7/24) at 1:45am. We went to the front desk and gave them our info. We knew we may have to chill in the lobby till at least 7:00am but they had a room ready for us. 11th floor (more on why that’s a good thing later) so up we go for a much needed sleep after a 7 hour drive.
Friday 7/24
We woke up around 9:00am and went to The Wave for breakfast. Food was good as usual. We headed to Epcot by bus around 11:00. Short 10 minute wait and social distance seating. Arriving at Epcot was weird being so empty. Temp scan, fast bag check and we were in, less than 10 minutes total. Rides were basically walk on all day. We snacked at the F&W booths and the best by day was the pork slider at the Hawaii booth. We left around 7:00. Besides the people eating off to the side, I think I seen one person with their mask pulled down all day. Mask compliance was 99.999%. Bus back was empty. Us and one other family. We showered and went to California Grill check in. Nothing showed on MDX so we took a chance and they seated us within 15 minutes. Menu was limited but they had the Kanaza sushi roll so I was happy. Wife and kids had steak.

Saturday 7/25
Overslept and missed Cheif Mickey’s breakfast. Got in the Monorail Headed to MK. Temp and security was fast. Arrived and no wait to get in. Low crowds. Again, walk in everything except 7DMT, Splash and BTM. Longest wait we had was a posted 45 min but actual 30 if that. Mask compliance was pretty perfect. I seen one guy vaping and a CM told him put on your mask and no vaping. He complied. We left around 5:00 and took the monorail again. No line at all. We changed and headed to the pool for 2 hours. Pool was very crowded and no CM enforced social distancing and people would swim right up beside you. We showered and took a Lyft to DS for dinner at Planet Hollywood. Again, Mask compliance was perfect.

Sunday 7/26
Woke up around 8:00am, took a bus to HS arriving at 9:15. Empty entrance and fast temp/security. Headed to MMRR and it was less than 10 minutes and we were on. We sat and had Churros for breakfast waiting till 10:00 and got boarding group 12. Headed to RnR with 30 min posted. Actual 15. It was DD6 first time. We rode up front and she loved it! We then headed to ST then baseline tap house for the Longest wait of the day lol. Other rides were maybe 30 minutes at the most. Again, mask compliance was great.

We did this short trip to be 100% sure we wanted to keep our Christmas trip and decided yes. A lot of stores and restaurants were closed but honestly we didn’t miss them. This trip did have its problems. Mostly at our resort. No towel service till we called 3 times, ran out of TP and every vending machine in every floor was empty. The number one problem was elevators at The Contemporary. We got lucky to be on the 11th floor. Every time we went down, the elevator would stop on at least 5 floors with people wanting to get on. If it was 2 or 1 person, we invited them. The whole elevator situation is ridiculous. We waited 30 minutes once (yesterday) just to have a family walk up and go in front of us. I said something and the first one in got back off arguing with me and we missed it. I was not happy. But besides that one thing, overall great trip!

edit: we had no issues wearing masks all day in 90+ degrees. It did get a little uncomfortable at times but not as bad as I imagined. I was worried about DD6 but her and DD9 did great!

 

[Nick6300]

9 am — when we first arrived it was 9:30, but it was posted 9am last we checked — but even when it was posted 9:30— it started early—- we found if we were always there at 9:15 (at the Riviera)— we were good to go— of course you’re even closer being at the Caribbean

so you didn’t get in line for skyliner until 9:15? Someone reported getting in line at 8:20 at Pop with lines to the 50s bldgs, waiting until 9ish, getting one around 9:15, and getting to HS around 9:45. Nervous that it’ll be tougher once CBR have guests for the skyliner too. I guess AoA opening has been moved to Nov 1 now, which would help Pop guests some.


https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-storie...usted-opening-dates-for-select-resort-hotels/

 

[Budzooka]

I'm hoping to make dining reservations at the Poly or GF as a day guest. Does anybody think it would be a problem to park at the resort of the reservation? We might try to walk over to the other resort for shopping after that. Has anybody tried this successfully?

Yes, we had dinner reservations at Fort Wilderness and was able to park there. They did confirm our reservation at the entry point.

 

[constanze]

so you didn’t get in line for skyliner until 9:15? Someone reported getting in line at 8:20 at Pop with lines to the 50s bldgs, waiting until 9ish, getting one around 9:15, and getting to HS around 9:45. Nervous that it’ll be tougher once CBR have guests for the skyliner too. I guess AoA opening has been moved to Nov 1 now, which would help Pop guests some.


https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-storie...usted-opening-dates-for-select-resort-hotels/

Yep---Riviera---in line at 9:15am and really just walked-on. I've never been to POP, but Riviera is a pretty small resort. However we didn't have to stand in any lines for the layover at the CBR---it's about a five minute ride to the CBR and then another 6 minutes (ish) to HS--- We were at HS on the 21st, the 24th and 25th.---However, I don't know what will happen once CBR opens on the 29th.

 

[cjlong88]

Yep---Riviera---in line at 9:15am and really just walked-on. I've never been to POP, but Riviera is a pretty small resort. However we didn't have to stand in any lines for the layover at the CBR---it's about a five minute ride to the CBR and then another 6 minutes (ish) to HS--- We were at HS on the 21st, the 24th and 25th.---However, I don't know what will happen once CBR opens on the 29th.

That's a great point. With more people using the skyliner when CBR opens, it makes me wonder if Pop guests should have a back-up plan if the Skyliner lines are too long or if there are delays, causing a later-than-usual arrival to HS.

 

[Love Ft Wilderness]

Yes, we had dinner reservations at Fort Wilderness and was able to park there. They did confirm our reservation at the entry point.

Fort Wilderness? I didn't think there was a restaurant open that took reservations there right now during post opening.