Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[d0naldduck123]

But yes we are home now and I didn’t want to get out of bed today much less do any work. I feel sad too that we don’t have anything on the books to look forward to or plan. That is almost as much part of the fun for me as the actual trip is.

I keep thinking how by the time we do our next trip - Ratatouille will be open, maybe Tron and the new Guardians ride, all of the new nighttime shows, Space 220 and maybe even the Star Wars resort. So that is a lot to look forward too for sure!

I totally agree! I love planning and looking forward to the trip as much as the actual trip itself so it kind of sucks when the trip ends. We got back last night and I really don't feel like working today. I'm also planning on visiting during the 50th anniversary and hoping they announce something about Tron and the Guardians ride so I can start planning our next trip!

 

[redboat45]

Are you worried that your suitcases might be too heavy for you to deal with? Or are you worried that your suitcases might be considered overweight by the airline and you will be charged a fee? If the latter, I would look up what the airline fee will be. It's been a long time since I had anything shipped home, but as I recall it was expensive and slow. Something like FedEx, but Ground rather than one of the faster services, and it's possible that things are not shipped out right away.

I shipped something home last September and it was only $8 and was there 2 days later (before we even left Disney).

 

[snickbar]

Haven't been in ToT yet (they were only running 1/2 the elevators and the line wasn't moving so we bailed).

How do you know while waiting in line whether both elevators are running or just the one? Is there an actual way to find out, or you can just assume based on how slow it's going?

 

[goodeats]

Built a car at Test Track this morning! Hadn’t seen that definitively reported yet, but maybe I missed it.

 

[redboat45]

Built a car at Test Track this morning! Hadn’t seen that definitively reported yet, but maybe I missed it.

oh my daughter is SO excited now!

 

[Sarahslay]

Built a car at Test Track this morning! Hadn’t seen that definitively reported yet, but maybe I missed it.

I don't think I've seen it reported, but my friend that just returned from her trip had pictures on FB of her kids building one this past week at some point on their trip. Normally I don't ride TT on my solo trips, but I've missed building a car so much I might just do stand-by (not even single rider) just so I can do it in August lol

 

[hb9131]

Built a car at Test Track this morning! Hadn’t seen that definitively reported yet, but maybe I missed it.

That's awesome! Things are going back to normal! I'm wondering if the cotton candy artist is in China for the Flower and Garden Festival... Do you know?

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Thought I'd give a quick DME update- line was long but moved quickly and we were on a bus in less than 10 minutes since they're sitting each row. I could see how it'd be a longer wait if we wouldn't have fit on the bus leaving right away but still, wasn't bad.

 

[Leigh L]

How do you know while waiting in line whether both elevators are running or just the one? Is there an actual way to find out, or you can just assume based on how slow it's going?

A CM in the middle of the queue was telling people (there is that split in the outside queue and I guess they were there to keep the line orderly?)

 

[Leigh L]

Apologies if I missed this as I saw MK and DHS are both back to reg rope drop - but does anyone know if AK back to doing regular rope drop too or is it still like it's been through the pandemic? Thanks so much!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Apologies if I missed this as I saw MK and DHS are both back to reg rope drop - but does anyone know if AK back to doing regular rope drop too or is it still like it's been through the pandemic? Thanks so much!

AK was still doing the modified rope drop this morning but it’s anticipated to move back to traditional rope drop any day.

It is the only park that has not reverted to traditional rope drop.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Built a car at Test Track this morning! Hadn’t seen that definitively reported yet, but maybe I missed it.

It was reported a few days ago, but still exciting!

 

[seb65]

What times do the parks open now- is it 1/2 hour before opening? I know AK hasn’t begun rope drop yet…

 

[scrappinginontario]

People are being allowed into MK, Epcot and DHS around 45 mins before posted park opening but are being held not too far inside the park until posted opening times.

 

[yorkieteacher]

Just to be clear, they are doing the stretching room again? And the preshow for Tower of Terror? Those are my favorites and I really missed them the other week.

Yes to both!!!

 

[Suejacken]

Thought I'd give a quick DME update- line was long but moved quickly and we were on a bus in less than 10 minutes since they're sitting each row. I could see how it'd be a longer wait if we wouldn't have fit on the bus leaving right away but still, wasn't bad.

That’s great to know . Thanks for the update

 

[blbrodger1]

We had a successful morning at Animal Kingdom this morning even though both Navi River Journey and Kilimanjaro Safaris were down for an extended period. We arrived via personal car at 6:40 and had to go down, take a u-turn and line up to turn left into the parking booth area. At 6:49 we began lining up at the parking booths, and they opened at exactly 7:00. We parked and walked straight to FOP - entered the queue at 7:20 and exited at 7:50.

A summary of the rest of our day is below:

8:05 Expedition Everest
8:20 Dinosaur
8:40 Triceratop Spin
9:00 I saw on MDE where safaris had opened. We speed walked across the park and the line was massive! We almost gave up because of the line but it ended up basically being a slow walk on through the long queue (took about 15 minutes but the line never stopped moving). Side note - I hated the plastic dividers on the safari vehicle.

9:50 Kali River Rapids x 2
10:45 Maharajah jungle trek
11:15 Dinosaur
12:05 Yak & Yeti lunch - Juan was a great waiter and the food was delicious as always.

At this point it was getting hot so we decided to skip Navi River Journey in favor of going back to BCV for a swim at Stormalong Bay. We had a great relaxing afternoon and are all set to get up early for MK tomorrow. My daughters are fully onboard with the whole rope drop situation after our successful morning.

Social distancing was pretty much nonexistent but mask compliance indoors and in ride queues seemed pretty good.

What was the "official" opening time of the park?

 

[jbish]

People are being allowed into MK, Epcot and DHS around 45 mins before posted park opening but are being held not too far inside the park until posted opening times.

This morning at HS, we walked in when we arrived (right after 8 I think) and held at the end of Hollywood Blvd. We heard the morning welcome at 8:30 and then the “rope dropped” to allow us going to TSL.

 

[MomOTwins]

What was the "official" opening time of the park?

8am

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

We arrived today for our first trip since Feb 2020! Our room (garden wing Contemporary) wasn’t ready when we arrived around 11 so we left our bags with bell services and walked to MK. Got to MK around 11:30, went to guest services to activate our AP vouchers and get the DAS for my son. Guest services was a breeze-no wait at all. We got our room ready text around noon which was way earlier than I expected!

I use an electric wheelchair in the parks because of my chronic illness and was amazed how much easier it was to navigate down Main Street compared to pre-Covid. It was by no means empty but it wasn’t anything like pre-Covid where I had to sit there praying people wouldn’t trip over me and completely unable to scoot forward because the crowds were so thick.

My son really wanted to go on Splash but it was down. We also noticed BTMRR was down so we ventured over to Tomorrowland. We grabbed a DAS for Space with an hour-ish return time, grabbed some snacks, then decided to wait for Peoplemover. The line snaked a bit out of the queue and we ended up having to wait around 30 min. The CM holding the line marker commented on how busy it was for a Wednesday. By the time we were off Peoplemover the Space DAS was ready. I was super proud of my son for giving it another try. The last time he tried was 3 years ago and it terrified him. He loved it today! After Space we checked and Splash was still down. We grabbed a DAS for Buzz, and went on Buzz 25ish min or so later. We got out and it was storming and super humid. Once again we checked the app and Splash was still down. We decided to snap a photo pass pic, grab a snack, then go get unpacked. It was a short MK day but we were all pretty wiped and we have another 8 days here so we didn’t feel compelled to see ALL the things today.

Observations: I’ve yet to run into grumpy CM’s. If anything, they’ve been even better than prior trips. I’m sure having the option to mask is helping! The crowds while we moved around felt lower, but man-I’m not used to not having FP’s. My son was dealing with a lot of anxiety today about the lines even with the DAS. I think it felt so crowded because the major draws in Frontierland were closed + everyone’s tolerance is lower in the heat. Food really is harder to access quickly. Snack lines were longer than usual so if you have any kind of medical condition where you might need an emergency snack or if you have a hangry kid, bring a couple back up snacks. Tomorrow is HS. It feels great to be back!