Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[skeeter31]

I stayed at the Contemporary only once & it was wonderful, I have walked to MK from the sidewalk inside the front of the resort.
So there is a sidewalk in front of the resort that you can also walk to MK directly from? You don't have to walk thru the front gates of the Contemporary Resort to get to the sidewalk to MK?

Never mind.. Thanks for the info.. I just googled it.. Thank you for the information !!!

Just keep in mind, there are occasionally Disney security guards in that area yelling at Ubers and passengers as that is NOT an unloading area and can cause traffic and is quite a dangerous place to be unloaded. The problem has gotten worse and worse over the past few years and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Disney do something to put a stop to ride shares being able to drop people at that crosswalk. It’s an extremely congested area as it is with CMs, busses, and walkers from the contemporary, now with the added ride shares stopping in the middle of traffic it’s gotten exponentially worse.

 

[jimbostacks]

Definitely hearing mixed reports on wait times, but holidays and weekends seem very different - maybe locals? But with the Holidays coming has anyone heard if Fast Passes coming back maybe in a hybrid way? Are the fast pass lanes set up for social distancing as well? I am there Christmas week and hoping for some ways to battle the crowds...but at 30% would think lines would be better.....

thanks!!!!

 

[Jeterdog2004]

I have a bunch of trip reports from our August and July trips.
Here is one that might help people with the HS character cavalcades

http://jilteddisneybride.com/2020/0...emption-of-hollywood-studios-and-travel-home/

 

[skeeter31]

Definitely hearing mixed reports on wait times, but holidays and weekends seem very different - maybe locals? But with the Holidays coming has anyone heard if Fast Passes coming back maybe in a hybrid way? Are the fast pass lanes set up for social distancing as well? I am there Christmas week and hoping for some ways to battle the crowds...but at 30% would think lines would be better.....

thanks!!!!

No rumors for FP return. I wouldn’t bank on it being back, the way it used to be, any time soon, if ever. My guess is they will return in a paid fashion, well after other restrictions are lifted. Disney will continue to utilize the FP queues for regular line social distancing. But if I were you I’d start prepping myself for no FPS as I’d put their chances of being there for Christmas week at about 0.2%.

 

[ScubaCat]

Am I the only one that never used the QR codes outside the restaurants? I've been seeing people saying that they had trouble with them at times, but it never even crossed my mind to use them. I just pulled up mobile ordering on the MDE app just like always with no issues. The menus are all on there too anyway.

Either way works fine.

 

[DisneyNDecember]

Just keep in mind, there are occasionally Disney security guards in that area yelling at Ubers and passengers as that is NOT an unloading area and can cause traffic and is quite a dangerous place to be unloaded. The problem has gotten worse and worse over the past few years and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Disney do something to put a stop to ride shares being able to drop people at that crosswalk. It’s an extremely congested area as it is with CMs, busses, and walkers from the contemporary, now with the added ride shares stopping in the middle of traffic it’s gotten exponentially worse.

Thank you. I agree 100%. That is why it seemed odd to me. I will avoid this for this very reason. Thank you again.

 

[Shacka1]

I was there today, very early afternoon. Waits were as I stated, I took a screenshot on my phone at 12:06, smugglers run and runaway railway 90 minutes, star tours and slinky dog 60 minutes. I was quoting Walt when I said “bad show” it’s not “bad showing”. It’s bad show because you are unnecessarily making guests wait due to ridiculously lowered capacity. It’s also bad show for boarding groups to be gone after 1 second at 10am for ROTR. This guest was not impressed having booked a resort and park reservation to get on the ride. It’s a bad system and there are far too many arbitrary restrictions and closures in place right now in general. This isn’t Disney quality.

This is what I am mostly worried about! Especially since we'll be there NYE week. I don't understand why they took away FP

 

[yulilin3]

This is what I am mostly worried about! Especially since we'll be there NYE week. I don't understand why they took away FP

if standby wait are 90 min with no fp offered think of what the standby wait times will be with FP.
I hate to have to repeat this but this is all new and unprecedented and Disney is trying to give EVERYONE the same experience right now. If they were to reopen fp not only would these fp be very limited (due to ride capacity) but would balloon standby wait times to at least another 30 minutes per attraction.

 

[LaDonna]

Am I the only one that never used the QR codes outside the restaurants? I've been seeing people saying that they had trouble with them at times, but it never even crossed my mind to use them. I just pulled up mobile ordering on the MDE app just like always with no issues. The menus are all on there too anyway.

I cannot remember now where we were at but this past week I was doing just that on MDE and I asked where a certain item was that I remembered people were talking about/or I saw on the menu somewhere while doing my trip research.... And she informed me that sometimes mde everything is Not on there if you scan the QR code it’s more up to date/full menu..... And she was right I found the item but for the life of me now I can’t remember what the heck it was where we were at

 

[Shacka1]

if standby wait are 90 min with no fp offered think of what the standby wait times will be with FP.
I hate to have to repeat this but this is all new and unprecedented and Disney is trying to give EVERYONE the same experience right now. If they were to reopen fp not only would these fp be very limited (due to ride capacity) but would balloon standby wait times to at least another 30 minutes per attraction.

I didn't think of that, nice way to look at it

 

[Took]

Given these higher than expected attendance rates at the parks, I really wish they'd increase park hours again for September. They cut them back AFTER I had made and paid for my trip.

 

[soniam]

Am I the only one that never used the QR codes outside the restaurants? I've been seeing people saying that they had trouble with them at times, but it never even crossed my mind to use them. I just pulled up mobile ordering on the MDE app just like always with no issues. The menus are all on there too anyway.

We never used the QR at the QS, but we did use the QR to check in at the TS.

 

[mcomber7]

How are the busses with the increase in crowds? We were at pop in August and loved the low crowds with the exception of the busses. We had bad luck with transportation. We will be back in December and are considering renting a car or Uber.

 

[WEDWDW]

How are the busses with the increase in crowds? We were at pop in August and loved the low crowds with the exception of the busses. We had bad luck with transportation. We will be back in December and are considering renting a car or Uber.

We've had pretty good luck with buses here at Pop Century except for when Skyliner is down and Skyliner Resort Guests are sent to the BWI Bus Depot.

But with Covid Buses,depending on group sizes,only being able to carry as little as six Guests and only as many as 25 Guests(as opposed to 72 Guests on a non Pandemic bus),waits are bound to happen at times.

 

[mrd7896]

We were pleasantly surprised with the buses when we used them at Pop this past week (Only had to a few times though). One evening we finished dinner at the contemporary just in time for MK to close and everyone rush to the bus stops. POP was miles longer than every other hotel stop which wasn’t a great look but they had buses pulling in one after another. I’m not sure how long it officially took for us to get on because of the limited capacities but it was at least reassuring to see that as soon as one bus was full they’d bring another in. We never waited more than two minutes with no bus there.

In regards to mobile ordering i actually really enjoyed it. Never had to wait too long aside from one instance at Pizzarizzo. We only ordered drinks and it took a few minutes for the “your order is ready” to appear. Once we got inside it was another 10 minutes before we even got to our counter, and when we got up to the counter all he had to do was pour our drinks that were clearly not ready. (Not that I’m angry they weren’t ready considering how long we had to wait vs how quickly he poured the drinks).

And i was worried about the mobile ordering at Pop because the Saturday before Labor Day we saw the line stretching outside the building to even get into the food court but we personally didn’t experience it. We also learned quickly to hit “prepare my order” during our walk from our room. Always timed very well.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Definitely hearing mixed reports on wait times, but holidays and weekends seem very different - maybe locals? But with the Holidays coming has anyone heard if Fast Passes coming back maybe in a hybrid way? Are the fast pass lanes set up for social distancing as well? I am there Christmas week and hoping for some ways to battle the crowds...but at 30% would think lines would be better.....

thanks!!!!

I think the “mixed” reports are a matter of perception. If you’re a FP+ expert and never wait more than 5 minutes for a ride (and seriously are those the only 3 rides you do in the park??) then the wait times might feel rough. If you’re used to the busier seasons with routine 90-120 minute waits, this is going to feel glorious.

FWIW even with reduced hours and slightly higher crowds on Wednesday we had time to do everything, SDD three times, and take a pool break.

 

[20yBWDW]

I think the “mixed” reports are a matter of perception. If you’re a FP+ expert and never wait more than 5 minutes for a ride (and seriously are those the only 3 rides you do in the park??) then the wait times might feel rough. If you’re used to the busier seasons with routine 90-120 minute waits, this is going to feel glorious.

FWIW even with reduced hours and slightly higher crowds on Wednesday we had time to do everything, SDD three times, and take a pool break.

I think the mixed reports can be due to luck. I have seen reports from same parks same days we were there that were completely opposite our experience (in both directions). In some cases, it was luck with regard to cast members. For example, we were told to wait outside for a mobile order, in the heat, until we got an order is ready text. Only after 30+ minutes did we find out something had gone wrong with our order is ready text, and it was much later we found out the other CM directed people to wait inside, and that there was a dead zone outside making our problem a common one. Our perspective was that the crowd and wait right in front of that QS was awful, while those directed inside had a much different perspective because they were in a not-so-crowded air-conditioned room and got their text in less than 10 minutes.

Other times, I think catching lines on cleaning cycles or technical difficulties made for a negatively skewed perspective, while catching it shortly after made for a positively skewed perspective, because the wait time dropped significantly just as someone got in line. Same line, same time, the person in front could've stepped into a line that said 30 minutes, waited 35, while person in back stepped in when it said 45, waited 20. Only a 15-minute difference, but based on expectations, feels very different.

 

[Naomeri]

Question: how late do the buses run from DS back to the resorts? If I go to a movie in the evening during my trip, I want to make sure I can catch a bus back to Pop

 

[NashvilleMama]

AK was a madhouse today. Third park day for us and so much worse than the last two at MK and DHS. It was a great lesson for my kids in “and this is why you should appreciate all of mommy’s work on getting FPs and touring plans in place for us” as they now understand horrendous wait times.

Wait time for FOP was posted at 50 mins when we entered the line. We waited two hours. TWO HOURS. (And we all agreed it was still worth it as that ride will never cease to blow me away. I actually teared up during it as I felt six months of stress release while “flying” through the air.)

We heard more than a few locals talking about how crazy it is now compared to just 2-3 weeks ago. I guess the word is out + capacity increases and gone are the walk-on days.

we’ll definitely not be returning until FP comes back, and longer evening hours.

 

[DisneyNDecember]

I love your insight “I actually teared up during it as I felt six months of stress release while “flying” through the air”.
We are set to come back for our first time in 7 years and are spoiled to Fast Passes. The thought of a two hour wait in line does not sound fun. But I really want to try FOP because Avatar land was not there when we visited in 2013.
I sure hope this gets worked out before our visit on December 11-19, 2020.
Still kind of sad we still won’t get to be in Animal Kingdom when it is dark, but 7 years ago it was never opened past dark anyway, so that won’t be any different for us.