Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[Sarahslay]

So I'm home from a great week in the parks solo, and aside from the heat it was a dream trip. The only ride I had a real wait for was SDD, I waited in that 3 times on my trip and all three times combined don't even come close to what a "normal" wait time would have been for one ride on one of my previous trips this past year (I think the longest wait was 30-ish minutes, shortest was 15 close to 2 hours after the park opening which was crazy). On thursday I even did ToT several times in a row and the only wait was waiting for the next elevator to come and load up each time, I even got the same exact sequence twice in a row on different elevators which never happens. I was trying to kill time before my lunch ADR and still ended up walking across the park to do Star Tours (again, no wait), sitting on a bench to call my husband, shopping in every store, and still had to stand around for 10 minutes before I could check in 20 minutes early. Lunch was at 12:45, I got in line for ToT the first time a around 11 and I don't even remember how many times I rode it before I was like "Ok, I guess I'll do something else" and went and did all the other stuff. A CM laid in to a group of college age girls who put their masks on during one of the rides once our elevator "docked", she was so mad and they didn't care, CMs at HS were some of the most strict that I saw with masks on rides, MK were the least strict. Overall compliance was amazing though, the worst I saw was that group of girls which is A++ in my book especially considering the heat.

The last two days I actually spent a lot of time just chilling around Poly, shopping, and going back to Epcot to eat more at F&W. I was very happy about the overall crowd level since it meant I didn't have to use DAS, I'd really rather not have to use it and didn't use it one time the whole trip, and was able to do absolutely everything I wanted to many times over. I only actually RD on my first day, the rest of the days I got there within an hour or later of park open and still got everything done, plus I often got a bus to myself from the resort to AK or HS so that was great too not having to cram in to a bus. Always done by lunch with what I planned to do in the mornings, always back to the resort befor the heat got too insane, and was SO happy that you can now grab a BG for Rise in the afternoon if you didn't have that as your first park, it really helped since I had zero plans of waking up in time for the 7am drop on Thursday when I was going back, and didn't want to hang around for the evening. Overall great trip, no complaints at all even if I was a complete sweaty mess the whole time.

 

[Sarahslay]

How about the construction walls all over a gutted EPCOT? And the huge, ugly barges blocking views across the lake? Those were two things I didn't love when we were there 2 weeks ago.

Well the barges are actually going to be a giant fountain during the day when they are up and running, and they were actually testing at one point at the end of this week for a bit. I think once they're up they'll look really awesome, but they are an eyesore. They are having some growing pains right now, but it's been like that on every trip I've taken over the last year and I think I've gotten so used to it that when the walls come down it'll feel weird.

 

[ffugitive]

Well we had 7 days of empty parks which was absolutely amazing. But can report that MK is packed right now, at least relative to the rest of the week

 

[Sarahslay]

Well we had 7 days of empty parks which was absolutely amazing. But can report that MK is packed right now, at least relative to the rest of the week

That's kinda why I wanted to go ahead and come home today. My husband was like "you sure you don't want to stay an extra day or two and enjoy the parks a bit more. Kids don't have school and I don't have work, we'll be fine" and I was like "I think I'd like to leave on a low attendance high note"

 

[tsme]

We went to HS today and it was horribly crowded. We got boarding pass 76, so we decided to go over there around 10am, arriving about 10:30. There were huge lines to buy tickets and the area to scan in the park was as crowded as rope drop, which caught us off guard. We tried shopping before our reservation but it was so crowded it was uncomfortable. We ate at the Brown Derby. It was delicious. The lines to ride were longer than we wanted to wait, but we walked up at the right time for Muppet Vision. It was cute as usual, but we had a family behind us who allowed their child to watch something on a device with the sound loudly playing. That was distracting, to be polite. Then we went into Galaxy’s Edge. By this time it was after one & the line for RORT boarding pass was down the tunnel. I guess Disney is giving out a lot more boarding passes than in the past. The last time we were here, we walked right in. Now it’s hotter than the halls of hell & ridiculously crowded, I was nauseous with a headache from the heat & crowds, so we didn’t stay for our boarding pass, we left, which sucked, but if we’d stayed I would’ve of definitely or .
Also I do know it’s Labor Day weekend. I was expecting crowds but don’t think I had properly prepared myself. We had not planned to come this weekend but we had to push our dates due to an emergency at home.
One more thing, no social distancing anywhere, masks in bathrooms about 50/50, masks in lines full on face in front of cast members, chin wearing or under nose away from CM. Personally at HS I didn’t feel comfortable in most of the park, but I don’t like people on back without a virus looming over us. I like my personal space, don’t like feeling someone’s breath on my neck.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Well we had 7 days of empty parks which was absolutely amazing. But can report that MK is packed right now, at least relative to the rest of the week

Wait times definitely look back to business as usual

 

[GADisneyDad14]

There were huge lines to buy tickets and the area to scan in the park was as crowded as rope drop, which caught us off guard.

I got there 9:10ish and there were long lines to buy tickets. And when we left 11:15iish they were even longer. I said to myself, never forget how many people come to the parks and just buy a ticket that day, especially a holiday weekend.

It was so crowded with people still coming in at 11:15 we had trouble finding the exit!

A lot of issues getting scanned in, the right reservations, etc. Speant longer in line getting in today than I have since reopening combined.

Important note, still fun and the above was just a relatively minor inconvenience.

 

[asumom]

Wait times definitely look back to business as usual

To be expected on a holiday weekend. Hopefully, slow again after Monday.

 

[Dentam]

To be expected on a holiday weekend. Hopefully, slow again after Monday.

Man, I hope so - we arrive next Wednesday and were getting excited about the low crowds!

 

[Angela Lurie]

Man, I hope so - we arrive next Wednesday and were getting excited about the low crowds!

We’re arriving Wednesday too and hoping for lower crowds and lower heat

 

[Ecomommy09]

‘All in all, it was a great trip; and now we wait to see if I got the COVID-19. I have my rapid test to take when I’ve been home a few days or if I experience symptoms. The current guidelines from CDC are 7 days post exposure for vaccinated individuals.

I did not get COVID from my trip. I may get it at any moment at work or from my kids, but my safety precautions and luck held out at WDW

 

[Dentam]

We’re arriving Wednesday too and hoping for lower crowds and lower heat

Looks like 89-90 for the high each day and mid-70's at night along with the typical afternoon storms. Definitely need to remember my poncho! I'm also bringing a neck fan and a UV umbrella. I used the fan last Sept and really liked it - haven't tried the umbrella but have heard they help a lot also so will give it a whirl.

 

[Corinne]

Yes, we moved resorts every day. I planned ahead to not really unpack like we usually do, have a park bag with swimsuits, phone chargers, sunscreen, and resort mugs to be able to hang out at the pool if our next room wasn't ready when we arrived. On the days my local cm daughter with a car had to work we just took our one bag and my C-pap machine to bell services on our way to breakfast to be transferred to our next resort. We then had a table service breakfast at the resort before heading to the closest park. On our Beach Club Villa and Epcot morning we swam after breakfast, because I love that deep lazy river. We didn't try to rope-drop this trip, so we could enjoy our breakfasts at a leisurely pace. After we were done in our morning park we took Disney transportation to our next resort. Sometimes the room was ready and sometimes we had to wait a bit. I think it helped with being able to get in a bit early some days that the crowds were pretty low everywhere. I actually thought the resort switching was easier when we didn't have to figure out when to get my daughter's car moved.

We loved having a perfectly clean room and made bed every afternoon! Our five resorts were BLT, BCV, BWV, OKW, and CCV. Favorite room if you don't consider location was CCV with walk-in shower, with BCV coming in second.

That’s so great, I’m impressed! I also love the CCV rooms, and BCV is our favorite. Thanks for sharing!

 

[smitty0705]

Well we had 7 days of empty parks which was absolutely amazing. But can report that MK is packed right now, at least relative to the rest of the week

Yes, the crowds are sure here with a vengeance for the holiday weekend today. AK and Epcot were packed to the gills today.

 

[ffugitive]

We’re arriving Wednesday too and hoping for lower crowds and lower heat

I wouldn't worry. As others mentioned, the lines at the ticket booths were enormous throughout the mornings, likely meaning a lot of people just in for the holiday weekend. Spoiled (and exhausted) from 7 perfect days, we bailed on MK yesterday and went to Splitsville for some bowling and billiards. Was a blast! Heading to AK for a couple of hours today before our evening flight. Good chance I'll grab a couch at the Nomad Lounge and just chill most of the time.

 

[scrapshappen]

HS is crowded today too FWIW. Wait times are much more normal. I’m glad we have another day here later in the week and hope it really does get better. Epcot was similar yesterday.

 

[OhBother1984]

Wait times definitely look back to business as usual

They will probably drop on tuesday. Long weekend, people can go places, I think this is showing even more that people just aren't pulling kids from school to vacation like in the past, paired with very little international travel.

 

[The13thLetter]

Now that we are back home for a week I can write my final trip wrap up (didnt want to jinx us with covid).

I did short daily reports while we were there (8/21-8/28) but wanted to do one more post. We stayed at YC. Room was perfect (except for the work being done a couple of days). Much more casual trip since no fastpass and not many dining reservations. We were really able to decide sort of day to day what we wanted to do. Parkhoppers were great for us being so close to epcot and hs. This was our last trip as a family of 3 (DW is pregnant and due in late november) and we had a wonderful time. Little to no waits, new rides for DS, characters, new restaurants for us, f&w, last HEA. Really had no big complaints.

There was two things though that I really did miss. 1-the cultural reps at worldshowcase. We still enjoyed epcot (its our fav park) but it really is not the same. 2-the seasoned castmembers who know everything. All the CMs were super nice but with all the layoffs and turnover, a lot of the CMs we asked questions to really had no idea what we were asking or how to maybe get the answer for us. In reality it didnt affect the trip that much but it was definitely something we noticed and missed.

we have a parents only trip planned for may and then our first trip as a family of 4 will be the next trip after that (not sure when that will be yet though). for now i will light my soarin over fiji candle and keep watching disney youtube videos to ease the pain

 

[TioAdis78]

Here today for first park day of trip at MK, definitely felt the uptick in attendance as there were only a few of the promised walk ons early in the morning. Still manageable, but quite more crowded than expected, and we still were able to had a blast, even convinced the kids to ride Haunted Mansion with us for the first time! (Got a little nervous, still had fun)

 

[rea59]

After reading the posts from this week I'm glad that we planned our trip for last week. We've been home for 4 days and the crowd levels were really low while we were there. Most of the ride were walk on. The longest wait time posted was 55 minutes for FOP and we were on and off the ride in less than 30 minutes. I've always been a big fan of DW because of all the perks they offered when staying on property. I've been taking my nephews on an annual birthday trip every summer since 2007. With the exception of last year. We've always stayed CL at BWI, BC & WL. I was disappointed that CL wasn't available this year for our stay at BC. Turns out that I didn't miss it at all. I'm not sure that we will be going back because I feel like a lot of the things that made traveling to DW so special are being taken away. If we do go back, we probably won't stay on property since Magical Express is going away, luggage delivery, airport check in at the hotel and free fastpasses are already gone. We might as well stay off property and take a shuttle over to the parks.