Here Now & Just Back - A Place To Share Your Recent Experiences

[Cynt]

I'm back at the room chilling and watching Jason Bourne. We're still full from lunch so dinner will probably be whatever leftovers we scrounge up from the fridge.

To back track a little bit, we started our vacation on Saturday, 10/17. We're here thru 10/24. We arrived via plane and caught the MDE to our dvc. We had 715pm dinner ressies at Ragland roads. Food excellent! Thx everyone for suggestion making dinner and or lunch ressies. I 2nd that suggestion. Make a ressie every day for brfst, lunch or dinner. Making TS lunch and dinner ressies was too much food for us. So I've canceled most of the two a day ressies to just one. Its been hard to find brfst in the parks. We're going to try brfst at our resort in the morning.

Sunday was AK. We were at the 1st bus stop at OKW, peninsular at 630am. Bus came about 645 am. We arrived at AK about 705am. 717am they were holding everyone at the entrance line. Shortly thereafter they let us enter.

Commercial break. Why did my DH want to get out of rd line and go get a snack at the ak entrance? SMH! He knows we don't do anything until after we RD the 1st ride. Yes this made us the stragglers at rd and I didn't get to ride fop but once. Smh!

We entered line at 732am and it was a walk on. We walked thru the queue straight to the ride It was crazy. We waited 4 hrs in 2017 to ride fop. 802am we were at the concession place at the exit of fop getting biscuit sandwiches and French toast sticks. Only place at a park that we have found a real breakfast sandwich. Or any kind of QS breakfast for that matter.

We were going to get in line again for fop but that line had snaked back to lion king. Omg! All I could do was laugh. I remember that trek 3 yrs ago without social distancing. They probably had a 70 to 80 minute wait.

We continued around AK riding every ride. Walking thru queues and getting on rides. Most rides less than 20 minutes. Like I mentioned up thread walking thru the queue is the wait. All the queues are double the length due to social distancing. Disney has done a phenomenal job creating these extended queues so we all can safely social distance. Keep this in mind when you see the snaking line. Don't be intimidated. If the line says 50 min its probably 30. If it says 30 its probably 15. All ur doing is walking thru the queue. EE was snaked back to Nemo. 50 something minutes posted. We were riding in less than 30 minutes. Don't be intimidated by the lines. They are constantly moving.

If you are not a planner, hate FP, usually just arrive whenever to the parks, go with the flow, never make ressies but eat whenever whatever BOOK UR DISNEY VACAY right now. You will love flying by the seat of your pants and being able to actually ride all the attractions without a 120 minute wait.

If you are a planner, love fp, loath standing in 20 minute lines, loath waiting for anything, have mastered fp STAY HOME. Covid Disney will frustrate you.

If you're a newbie, this is a tough one. If you have littles aged 3 to 7 come on. You won't know what ur missing and plenty of rides for your littles to enjoy with very little waits.

Commercial break. I still miss Minnie and Mickeys house. I don't know if I'll ever get over them removing them. .

Ok as I think of more I'll post back. We are having a great time! Yes we would book again and yes we are glad we came.

O their are a ton of families at the parks. I don't blame them one bit. It is an excellent time to come with ur fam.

 

[Cynt]

Let's talk about covid, the pandemic. If you're OCD and or a germaphob stay at home. Disney will drive you insane. Why? Disney does not employ the 100s of 1000s of your closest Disney friends who are also tired of being home and want to visit their happy place. As hard as your Disney friends try, it's still Disney and we lose it when we see the castle, tree of life, that dole whip, Dumbo, etc. and we simply forget to social distance. We forget to put on our mask after we dive into our dole whip. I had about 4 or 5 bites of my dole whip b4 it dawned on me to get somewhere and sit down and enjoy my dole whip. I was licking and slurping my dole whip float b4 I made it to the magic carpets. I just went on auto pilot once they handed it to me. I didn't mean to offend anyone but once I came back to my right mind I adhered to the mask policy.

90% of the time I see folks in noncompliance they have simply forgot. I did too. No harm. No foul.

So if you expect 100% compliance stay home. If you expect cast members to be the mask police and babysit every patron, stay home. If you're a reasonable person and know its the 80/20 rule come on and enjoy yourself. 80% will follow the rules to the letter with a few slip ups, but 20% will be defiant no matter what it is. They will never follow any rules.

I constantly saw Disney cleaning, reminding folks to mask up correctly, and reminding us to social distance. They did it verbally over intercoms and visually with pics and words. They did 1000% better than Walmart and my local mall.

If you have been staying at home in your house the past 7 months, stay at home. You're not ready to visit Disney. Disney should not be your 1st place to visit. All the people will freak you out, regardless of mask and social distancing.

I felt safe and thought they did an excellent job. Kudos to them. They have hand sanitizer everywhere, before you enter a ride and afterwards. I didn't even need to use my stash. If your hands are dirty, its on you.

 

[katyringo]

Howdy folks. This thread has been so helpful so I am hoping to give back. We arrived today and so I will try and share our experience today. Keep in mind I’m a Disneyland vet and so some things I share might be something that has always been that way.

we flew southwest from Omaha with a connection in St. Louis. It went so smoothly. It was comfortable. It was great.

we landed about 1245 in Orlando, got our bags and went to the magical express. There was a bit of a line at magical express but not bad. After the initial checkin at magical express there was a second checkin. A lady there showed us a chart of the bud, showed us where to seat on the char and told us what bus number. They had a sign saying expected wait for DME up to 45mins.

so for time line we landed at 1245, took MDE to pop century, which was its first stop, while on the bus I made a Mobil order for everything pop for my hubby who was hungry, we picked up his food, got to our room and then on the skyliner and walked into Epcot at 2:57.

I had ordered groceries from Walmart for delivery and that was a bit of a mess. While on MDE I get a text message from a door dash driver that he has arrived. I stated I gave permission in the Walmart app for them to leave with front desk. Well pop told door dash he couldn’t leave it with him. I had no idea Walmart was out sourcing their grocery delivery or I would not have ordered through them. I had no cash on me to tip the door dash driver because Walmart employees here who delivery can’t accept it. It was a mess.

I Love the direct to your room check in. So smooth!

anyway we took the skyliner to Epcot. No wait at all for skyline in the afternoon.

once in Epcot we headed to the world showcase pavilion. Lines were short in there. We got lobster Mac and cheese, Buffalo Mac and cheese and a nitro cake pop. All really good. Couldn’t finish the cake pop.. so sweet! Felt the lines in there were really well organized and having the menus posted at the line entry is so smart.

we then made a plan to hit attractions. By then it was 330 and we had dinner reservations at 6:55 so we had 3.5 hours. We were able to accomplish soarin, spaceship earth, test track, and frozen. All the things we wanted to! Soarin and spaceship were walk on. I was using the Disney app but also the touring plans app. Touring plans deff more accurate. Test track was posted 35 and I think we waited that because we got caught in a cleaning cycle. Frozen was posted 60 and the line stretched all the way to China. But we waited about 45.
What people say is true. The lines move continuously unless in a cleaning cycle. It goes fast.

I’m so glad we changed our plans to do Epcot on arrival day. I can see on a weekend it’s probably worse, and needing a full day, but today a Tuesday 4 hours was enough for us! We don’t drink so that’s part of it too.

our dinner reservation was for 655 (park close) at teppan Edo. It was SO GOOD. They have dividers at the tables. You still dine with another party but the divider there. We enjoyed our conversation with the folks sharing our table. The cook was engaging and fun and the food was amazingly good. Like.. best food I’ve had in a Disney park good. I really like the QR code menus. So handy. Leaving dinner was perfect. If you can get the park closing reservations so you can see the park at dark it’s worth it.

we took the skyliner back to the hotel.Now I realized that my ears were a bit sore. I headed to everythjng pop to see if they sold ear savers. They dont. Will look at universal tomorrow. I brought lots of different kids of mask with different elastic and loops so I’m not too worried.

as far as social distancing and masks... mask compliance is super high. Compared to back home it’s down right exceptional. People in Epcot today were doing amazing at following the ground markings. I do think if your overly worried about it, however, you should probably not go.

it’s been a great day!

 

[Jennx36]

Just returned from a 4 day trip. We arrived via plane and joined our family at SSR on Thursday. We booked a preferred two bedroom villa for 4 adults and 2 children, and the kind cast member at check-in changed the location of our room to be closer to Disney Springs as we had a couple of dining reservations there. We hung out at the pool, did Rain Forest Cafe at DS for dinner and went to MK the next day. From Congress Park, it only took a few minutes for a bus to arrive, and we pulled up at MK about 22 minutes later. We missed rope drop, and at 9:30 am, the lines were already 45+ minutes for most of the popular rides. Unfortunately, the wait times were accurate. We wanted to do Peter Pan's Flight, but wait times for that were about 60 minutes, so we settled on Small World. The wait time was 45 minutes, and it took about 50 minutes. The entrance is being refurbished or refreshed, and we spent the first 15 to 20 minutes outside in the sun. Next was Winnie the Pooh, and the wait time for that was just about 30 minutes. Got on in about 25 minutes, this line seemed to move much more quickly. By this time, it was around 11:30 am, and people were getting hungry. Mobile order in MK was a little chaotic. We picked a timeframe for Pecos Bill and then placed the order. Once in our time frame, we checked it to let the restaurant know to start preparing our order. It took about 35 minutes from the time we checked in to the time our food was ready to pick up. You can't wait in the restaurant, and cast members were standing at the entrance to make sure people entering were only those whose mobile orders were ready for pick up. This was super tough as it was a little past noon at this point and the group was hot and hangry (temps were in the high 80's)! Finally the food was ready, but half the group decided to take their food to go and eat it while standing in line for another ride. My group decided to stay and enjoyed a descent meal with air conditioning inside Pecos Bill. I would have preferred Columbia Harbour House, but it was closed. Next was PotC. The wait was accurate at 45 minutes. I mobile ordered ice cream from Aloha Isle. It took a while, but the Kakamora Float was delicious!! Next was Carousel of Progress, a little less than the posted 20 minute wait, and a much needed break from the heat. After that was Dumbo. Posted wait time was 10 minutes, but it took about 20 as they stopped the ride to spray everything down and then run the ride with no one on board. Next was the Little Mermaid, an accurate 35 minute wait. We had dinner reservations at Be Our Guest. The Beast makes an appearance with a quick wave and a bow. We saw him about three times through the course of the dinner. To end the night, we got a quick picture from the photo pass photographer in front of Cinderella castle, masks and all to capture the moment! We then made our way to the exit. I thought I would stop in at the Confectionary to pick up a candy apple, but the line was long, and people were tired!! Next day was Animal Kingdom. Our group got a late start. It did not take long for the bus to arrive at the resort, and we walked into the park around 10:30. Wait times were about 45+ minutes. FoP was at a 105 minute wait, and Navi River Journey was a 90 minute wait. Dinoland USA was kind of sad. With many of the attractions closed (Primeval Whirl, The Bone Yard, no Chip and Dale dance party), it was kind of a ghost town. We walked onto Triceratops Spin. Dinosaur was a 50 minute wait, so we skipped that and did It's a Bugs Life, about a 20 minute wait. Then we got in line for Kilimanjaro Safari. The line stretched all the way behind Tusker House, but it moved quickly, probably just 35 minute wait. Based on our experience with mobile order at MK, we picked a timeframe for mobile order for Flame Tree BBQ. We checked in as the Safari ended, and within about 5 minutes, our food was ready for pick up. We were still on the safari truck and had to wait about 5 minutes to exit. Then we raced across the park to Flame Tree, but it said our order was not picked up and our credit card would be refunded. We checked with a cast member, and our order was promptly remade and ready for pick up in about 5 minutes (they forgot my cupcake, but this was probably for the best). We enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch near the water and got to see boats drive by with characters and drummers. We decided to wait in the 70 minute line for Navi River Journey. While my group waited in line, I picked up drinks for us at Pongu Pongu. They will only allow one person to pick up two alcoholic drinks, so instead of two beers and a Night Blossom with rum, I got two beers and a regular Night Blossom (still delicious!). We called it a day after Navi River Journey and headed back to the room. My children stayed at the resort with family while my husband and I enjoyed a date night at California Grill and then shopping at Disney Springs. I don't know why, but my husband and I left our magic bands and planned on using our phones to unlock the door. We couldn't get either of our phones to work, so we had to wake up his mother to let us in! The next morning, we packed up and got brunch at Chef Art Smith's Homecomin'. It was delicious, and the portions were huge! Overall, this was a great trip! We have had better experiences at MK for sure, but the ability to combine a Disney trip with seeing other family members (10 of us total) made it special for us.

Take aways:
If we hadn't been able to combine this trip with seeing our family, I don't think this trip would have been worth the cost. The crowds and wait times have increased since initial reopening. The cost of the rooms and the tickets are the same even though there are no fast passes, no park hopping, several restaurants are closed, and experiences are cancelled or altered (fireworks, character meet and greets). Most of the time, wearing a mask was a non-issue for myself, my 5 year-old, and my 3 year-old. I can't speak for the rest of my family. Many people commented that the wait times decreased in the afternoon and evening. This was not the case for a Friday afternoon/evening at MK. I think the best way to enjoy a trip under the current circumstances is to set your expectations low and pack your patience. It is a different experience, and right now may not be the best time to visit if you are expecting to capture the same magic that you experienced on previous trips.

Forget social distancing at MK, it's not going to happen. Too many people and not enough cast members to enforce it. However, mask compliance was actually pretty good from what I observed. Asking guests to stand still while eating or drinking was largely ignored in the two parks we visited and at Disney Springs. Social distancing at Animal Kingdom was much better in most places.

Be prepared to wait in line for almost everything as they are capping the number of people inside shops and stores. However, don't let the length of the line fool you, they actually seem to move pretty quickly. The line for World of Disney at Disney Springs looked really long, but we were inside the store in about 7 minutes on a Saturday night around 8:30 pm. None of the other stores had lines to get in at this time from what I observed.

The Saratoga Springs Resort is beautiful! The newly refurbished two bedroom villa suited our group perfectly (4 adults, 2 children). The bus transportation was not an issue for us at all. We did not have to wait long for a bus to pick us up from the resort or from the parks. We were never turned away from boarding a bus due to the bus reaching capacity. The walk to Disney Springs from Congress Park was easy and pleasant. I also could easily walk from Congress Park to Artist's Palate for a quick bite.

California Grill (loved the grouper), Be Our Guest (loved the lamb chops), and Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' (loved the hallelujah biscuit) were all wonderful! Portions at all three of these restaurants are generous, so come hungry or split a meal (not sure if you can split a meal at Be Our Guest).

My preferred way to experience MK is paying extra for early morning magic or staying club level and paying extra for three additional fast passes. Not being able to do either of these kind of puts a damper on the experience as I was left feeling like the value of the experience did not equal the cost of the park admission ticket. Thankfully being able to spend time with extended family made up for the difference. It seems like Disney could still offer early morning magic as it is a separate, ticketed event, and they could maintain low crowd levels for social distancing.

Probably more detail than needed, but I hope this helps for someone planning or about to experience a trip in the near future.

 

[morganms22]

We left Beach Club Villas at 8:30 this morning for Hollywood Studios. They started letting people in a little before 9. We arrived about 8:50 and we were in the park at 9:00. We went straight to MMRR and waited about 20 minutes to take off on the ride. We then waited about 10 minutes to ride TSM and tried to get a boarding group for ROTR. I wasn’t able to at 10, but we did manage to get a back up group at 2. We were 112 and they made it to 113 for the day. All of the popular rides had long waits around the time the park was actually scheduled to open.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Howdy folks. This thread has been so helpful so I am hoping to give back. We arrived today and so I will try and share our experience today. Keep in mind I’m a Disneyland vet and so some things I share might be something that has always been that way.

we flew southwest from Omaha with a connection in St. Louis. It went so smoothly. It was comfortable. It was great.

we landed about 1245 in Orlando, got our bags and went to the magical express. There was a bit of a line at magical express but not bad. After the initial checkin at magical express there was a second checkin. A lady there showed us a chart of the bud, showed us where to seat on the char and told us what bus number. They had a sign saying expected wait for DME up to 45mins.

so for time line we landed at 1245, took MDE to pop century, which was its first stop, while on the bus I made a Mobil order for everything pop for my hubby who was hungry, we picked up his food, got to our room and then on the skyliner and walked into Epcot at 2:57.

I had ordered groceries from Walmart for delivery and that was a bit of a mess. While on MDE I get a text message from a door dash driver that he has arrived. I stated I gave permission in the Walmart app for them to leave with front desk. Well pop told door dash he couldn’t leave it with him. I had no idea Walmart was out sourcing their grocery delivery or I would not have ordered through them. I had no cash on me to tip the door dash driver because Walmart employees here who delivery can’t accept it. It was a mess.

I Love the direct to your room check in. So smooth!

anyway we took the skyliner to Epcot. No wait at all for skyline in the afternoon.

once in Epcot we headed to the world showcase pavilion. Lines were short in there. We got lobster Mac and cheese, Buffalo Mac and cheese and a nitro cake pop. All really good. Couldn’t finish the cake pop.. so sweet! Felt the lines in there were really well organized and having the menus posted at the line entry is so smart.

we then made a plan to hit attractions. By then it was 330 and we had dinner reservations at 6:55 so we had 3.5 hours. We were able to accomplish soarin, spaceship earth, test track, and frozen. All the things we wanted to! Soarin and spaceship were walk on. I was using the Disney app but also the touring plans app. Touring plans deff more accurate. Test track was posted 35 and I think we waited that because we got caught in a cleaning cycle. Frozen was posted 60 and the line stretched all the way to China. But we waited about 45.
What people say is true. The lines move continuously unless in a cleaning cycle. It goes fast.

I’m so glad we changed our plans to do Epcot on arrival day. I can see on a weekend it’s probably worse, and needing a full day, but today a Tuesday 4 hours was enough for us! We don’t drink so that’s part of it too.

our dinner reservation was for 655 (park close) at teppan Edo. It was SO GOOD. They have dividers at the tables. You still dine with another party but the divider there. We enjoyed our conversation with the folks sharing our table. The cook was engaging and fun and the food was amazingly good. Like.. best food I’ve had in a Disney park good. I really like the QR code menus. So handy. Leaving dinner was perfect. If you can get the park closing reservations so you can see the park at dark it’s worth it.

we took the skyliner back to the hotel.Now I realized that my ears were a bit sore. I headed to everythjng pop to see if they sold ear savers. They dont. Will look at universal tomorrow. I brought lots of different kids of mask with different elastic and loops so I’m not too worried.

as far as social distancing and masks... mask compliance is super high. Compared to back home it’s down right exceptional. People in Epcot today were doing amazing at following the ground markings. I do think if your overly worried about it, however, you should probably not go.

it’s been a great day!

I have a problem with the elastic as I react to the elastic. might try one you can tie

 

[katherine52478]

Just arrived today for a week stay. We are at the Dolphin which has a super smooth check-in. Took a Lyft to the Poly which was a bit challenging at drop off due to the construction. Had drinks and apps at Tambu Lounge and then dinner at Kona Cafe. It was soooo quiet at Poly and just had a different feel than usual. It actually made me quite sad! We got Dole Whip downstairs and then headed to the Boardwalk which was where it got really depressing. So much was closed and what was opened was very busy. There are no stands/games/activities open. Only places open that we could see were Trattoria and Abracadabar which had a line out the door. Headed to Beach Club and Yacht Club to see a huge line waiting outside Beaches and Cream for both the restaurant and ice cream window. The Ale and Compass restaurant was fully booked and every table was taken at the lounge. These are usually our “hidden gems” so we moved on to the Dolphin lobby where we were able to get seats at the bar at Phins and then a booth at Blue Zoo. Having just been here in February, it was disheartening to see how COVID has impacted these resorts and restaurants. The staff has been wonderful. Upbeat and helpful, even when they are unsure of where they may be moved next.

Tomorrow is one of our Epcot days. We are prepared for lines at the rides but are wondering if it is even worth it. The masks are painful to wear in this heat and for the length of time between meals. We are sooo happy to be here but may need to adjust expectations!

 

[katyringo]

Just arrived today for a week stay. We are at the Dolphin which has a super smooth check-in. Took a Lyft to the Poly which was a bit challenging at drop off due to the construction. Had drinks and apps at Tambu Lounge and then dinner at Kona Cafe. It was soooo quiet at Poly and just had a different feel than usual. It actually made me quite sad! We got Dole Whip downstairs and then headed to the Boardwalk which was where it got really depressing. So much was closed and what was opened was very busy. There are no stands/games/activities open. Only places open that we could see were Trattoria and Abracadabar which had a line out the door. Headed to Beach Club and Yacht Club to see a huge line waiting outside Beaches and Cream for both the restaurant and ice cream window. The Ale and Compass restaurant was fully booked and every table was taken at the lounge. These are usually our “hidden gems” so we moved on to the Dolphin lobby where we were able to get seats at the bar at Phins and then a booth at Blue Zoo. Having just been here in February, it was disheartening to see how COVID has impacted these resorts and restaurants. The staff has been wonderful. Upbeat and helpful, even when they are unsure of where they may be moved next.

Tomorrow is one of our Epcot days. We are prepared for lines at the rides but are wondering if it is even worth it. The masks are painful to wear in this heat and for the length of time between meals. We are sooo happy to be here but may need to adjust expectations!

you can see my report above yours but we didn’t get to Epcot yesterday until 3pm and had a blast! I think your expectations compared to your feb trip are probably different.

 

[nkereina]

What's the reason Disney is over-inflating posted wait times? Is it to allow ample time for the periodic cleaning that takes place? Is it to discourage people from going? Is it a form of guest satisfaction where people are happy when their wait was only half the time it said it would be? I know in the past, it was an assumed tactic to keep posted times for popular rides higher near closing to discourage people from riding at that time. But the posted times in the current environment generally seem over-inflated all day every day, so just trying to gather what the purpose is. The social distancing and queue limitations aren't really related to the actual waits, since its the same number of people regardless.

 

[yulilin3]

What's the reason Disney is over-inflating posted wait times? Is it to allow ample time for the periodic cleaning that takes place? Is it to discourage people from going? Is it a form of guest satisfaction where people are happy when their wait was only half the time it said it would be? I know in the past, it was an assumed tactic to keep posted times for popular rides higher near closing to discourage people from riding at that time. But the posted times in the current environment generally seem over-inflated all day every day, so just trying to gather what the purpose is. The social distancing and queue limitations aren't really related to the actual waits, since its the same number of people regardless.

Mostly because walt times are harder to predict with limited ride capacity dependent on group size and not individual people
For example, IASW now is loading basically 2 groups of people, one in front and one in back BUT if im a solo traveler a take a whole row where 3 or 4 people can sit, so it's harder to predict
Disney isn't over inflating wait times on purpose, it's just harder to know

 

[Jennx36]

What's the reason Disney is over-inflating posted wait times? Is it to allow ample time for the periodic cleaning that takes place? Is it to discourage people from going? Is it a form of guest satisfaction where people are happy when their wait was only half the time it said it would be? I know in the past, it was an assumed tactic to keep posted times for popular rides higher near closing to discourage people from riding at that time. But the posted times in the current environment generally seem over-inflated all day every day, so just trying to gather what the purpose is. The social distancing and queue limitations aren't really related to the actual waits, since its the same number of people regardless.

I didn't think the wait times were over-inflated. Most of the wait times were accurate give or take 5 minutes from my experience last week.

 

[lovethattink]

What's the reason Disney is over-inflating posted wait times? Is it to allow ample time for the periodic cleaning that takes place? Is it to discourage people from going? Is it a form of guest satisfaction where people are happy when their wait was only half the time it said it would be? I know in the past, it was an assumed tactic to keep posted times for popular rides higher near closing to discourage people from riding at that time. But the posted times in the current environment generally seem over-inflated all day every day, so just trying to gather what the purpose is. The social distancing and queue limitations aren't really related to the actual waits, since its the same number of people regardless.

If you hit a cleaning cycle, that adds time to your wait. And makes the wait as it time close to the posted time.

 

[Tess]

I didn't think the wait times were over-inflated. Most of the wait times were accurate give or take 5 minutes from my experience last week.

Ditto! We were there for 10 days and returned on 10/16/20. We found the wait times to be nearly spot on + or - 5 mins.

 

[only hope]

Ok been reading here for weeks. DGS and I are heading down 11/8 - 11/14 with all park days on weekdays. I have never in 19 trips, ever hit rope drop. Like never even tried. DGS is an early riser and I'm good with that. My plan is get ready at our own pace be it fast or slow on any given day. Get breakfast at the Pop Food Court (do we mobile order there too?). Get in line for the bus & get on when its our turn. Do whatever rides we can and leave when we're done. Hopefully warm enough to swim a little in the evening. I need a trip to my happy place and I am just not gonna stress about when to be where and how early can I get there.

If you’re from a place that gets winter, you’ll be fine swimming next month. If you’re from a warm climate, it’ll probably be fine- unless a cold front comes through it’ll likely be in the 80’s during the day.

 

[jenmsmith]

I didn't think the wait times were over-inflated. Most of the wait times were accurate give or take 5 minutes from my experience last week.

That was our experience last week as well. In fact, several actual waits for us were longer than the posted wait.

 

[pooch]

From beautiful Connecticut! But it has not been cold here yet. I'm still in capris & flip flops!!!

 

[stinkpickle]

I imagine they've been making adjustments to their wait times calculations lately.

 

[stinkpickle]

Just returned from a 4 day trip. We arrived via plane and joined our family at SSR on Thursday. We booked a preferred two bedroom villa for 4 adults and 2 children, and the kind cast member at check-in changed the location of our room to be closer to Disney Springs as we had a couple of dining reservations there. We hung out at the pool, did Rain Forest Cafe at DS for dinner and went to MK the next day. From Congress Park, it only took a few minutes for a bus to arrive, and we pulled up at MK about 22 minutes later. We missed rope drop, and at 9:30 am, the lines were already 45+ minutes for most of the popular rides. Unfortunately, the wait times were accurate. We wanted to do Peter Pan's Flight, but wait times for that were about 60 minutes, so we settled on Small World. The wait time was 45 minutes, and it took about 50 minutes. The entrance is being refurbished or refreshed, and we spent the first 15 to 20 minutes outside in the sun. Next was Winnie the Pooh, and the wait time for that was just about 30 minutes. Got on in about 25 minutes, this line seemed to move much more quickly. By this time, it was around 11:30 am, and people were getting hungry. Mobile order in MK was a little chaotic. We picked a timeframe for Pecos Bill and then placed the order. Once in our time frame, we checked it to let the restaurant know to start preparing our order. It took about 35 minutes from the time we checked in to the time our food was ready to pick up. You can't wait in the restaurant, and cast members were standing at the entrance to make sure people entering were only those whose mobile orders were ready for pick up. This was super tough as it was a little past noon at this point and the group was hot and hangry (temps were in the high 80's)! Finally the food was ready, but half the group decided to take their food to go and eat it while standing in line for another ride. My group decided to stay and enjoyed a descent meal with air conditioning inside Pecos Bill. I would have preferred Columbia Harbour House, but it was closed. Next was PotC. The wait was accurate at 45 minutes. I mobile ordered ice cream from Aloha Isle. It took a while, but the Kakamora Float was delicious!! Next was Carousel of Progress, a little less than the posted 20 minute wait, and a much needed break from the heat. After that was Dumbo. Posted wait time was 10 minutes, but it took about 20 as they stopped the ride to spray everything down and then run the ride with no one on board. Next was the Little Mermaid, an accurate 35 minute wait. We had dinner reservations at Be Our Guest. The Beast makes an appearance with a quick wave and a bow. We saw him about three times through the course of the dinner. To end the night, we got a quick picture from the photo pass photographer in front of Cinderella castle, masks and all to capture the moment! We then made our way to the exit. I thought I would stop in at the Confectionary to pick up a candy apple, but the line was long, and people were tired!! Next day was Animal Kingdom. Our group got a late start. It did not take long for the bus to arrive at the resort, and we walked into the park around 10:30. Wait times were about 45+ minutes. FoP was at a 105 minute wait, and Navi River Journey was a 90 minute wait. Dinoland USA was kind of sad. With many of the attractions closed (Primeval Whirl, The Bone Yard, no Chip and Dale dance party), it was kind of a ghost town. We walked onto Triceratops Spin. Dinosaur was a 50 minute wait, so we skipped that and did It's a Bugs Life, about a 20 minute wait. Then we got in line for Kilimanjaro Safari. The line stretched all the way behind Tusker House, but it moved quickly, probably just 35 minute wait. Based on our experience with mobile order at MK, we picked a timeframe for mobile order for Flame Tree BBQ. We checked in as the Safari ended, and within about 5 minutes, our food was ready for pick up. We were still on the safari truck and had to wait about 5 minutes to exit. Then we raced across the park to Flame Tree, but it said our order was not picked up and our credit card would be refunded. We checked with a cast member, and our order was promptly remade and ready for pick up in about 5 minutes (they forgot my cupcake, but this was probably for the best). We enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch near the water and got to see boats drive by with characters and drummers. We decided to wait in the 70 minute line for Navi River Journey. While my group waited in line, I picked up drinks for us at Pongu Pongu. They will only allow one person to pick up two alcoholic drinks, so instead of two beers and a Night Blossom with rum, I got two beers and a regular Night Blossom (still delicious!). We called it a day after Navi River Journey and headed back to the room. My children stayed at the resort with family while my husband and I enjoyed a date night at California Grill and then shopping at Disney Springs. I don't know why, but my husband and I left our magic bands and planned on using our phones to unlock the door. We couldn't get either of our phones to work, so we had to wake up his mother to let us in! The next morning, we packed up and got brunch at Chef Art Smith's Homecomin'. It was delicious, and the portions were huge! Overall, this was a great trip! We have had better experiences at MK for sure, but the ability to combine a Disney trip with seeing other family members (10 of us total) made it special for us.

Take aways:
If we hadn't been able to combine this trip with seeing our family, I don't think this trip would have been worth the cost. The crowds and wait times have increased since initial reopening. The cost of the rooms and the tickets are the same even though there are no fast passes, no park hopping, several restaurants are closed, and experiences are cancelled or altered (fireworks, character meet and greets). Most of the time, wearing a mask was a non-issue for myself, my 5 year-old, and my 3 year-old. I can't speak for the rest of my family. Many people commented that the wait times decreased in the afternoon and evening. This was not the case for a Friday afternoon/evening at MK. I think the best way to enjoy a trip under the current circumstances is to set your expectations low and pack your patience. It is a different experience, and right now may not be the best time to visit if you are expecting to capture the same magic that you experienced on previous trips.

Forget social distancing at MK, it's not going to happen. Too many people and not enough cast members to enforce it. However, mask compliance was actually pretty good from what I observed. Asking guests to stand still while eating or drinking was largely ignored in the two parks we visited and at Disney Springs. Social distancing at Animal Kingdom was much better in most places.

Be prepared to wait in line for almost everything as they are capping the number of people inside shops and stores. However, don't let the length of the line fool you, they actually seem to move pretty quickly. The line for World of Disney at Disney Springs looked really long, but we were inside the store in about 7 minutes on a Saturday night around 8:30 pm. None of the other stores had lines to get in at this time from what I observed.

The Saratoga Springs Resort is beautiful! The newly refurbished two bedroom villa suited our group perfectly (4 adults, 2 children). The bus transportation was not an issue for us at all. We did not have to wait long for a bus to pick us up from the resort or from the parks. We were never turned away from boarding a bus due to the bus reaching capacity. The walk to Disney Springs from Congress Park was easy and pleasant. I also could easily walk from Congress Park to Artist's Palate for a quick bite.

California Grill (loved the grouper), Be Our Guest (loved the lamb chops), and Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' (loved the hallelujah biscuit) were all wonderful! Portions at all three of these restaurants are generous, so come hungry or split a meal (not sure if you can split a meal at Be Our Guest).

My preferred way to experience MK is paying extra for early morning magic or staying club level and paying extra for three additional fast passes. Not being able to do either of these kind of puts a damper on the experience as I was left feeling like the value of the experience did not equal the cost of the park admission ticket. Thankfully being able to spend time with extended family made up for the difference. It seems like Disney could still offer early morning magic as it is a separate, ticketed event, and they could maintain low crowd levels for social distancing.

Probably more detail than needed, but I hope this helps for someone planning or about to experience a trip in the near future.

That sounds pretty close to what I expect. We're staying preferred at SSR next week, but I think we will Uber rope drops instead of risking it with the buses.

 

[aml1676]

Just back last night from a stay at Kidani Village 10/12-10/20. Overall, this was an amazing trip - I haven't been to WDW in 35 years and this was my daughter's first visit. I know many people said this is not the time for first-timers and I vehemently disagree, provided expectations are managed appropriately. I knew going in that we wouldn't get character meet and greets, parades, etc. and was not the least bit disappointed. We'll be happy to catch those things on future trips.

We had 5 park days in all, and generally I thought mask compliance was around 90%. Social distancing was okay - not once did I feel uncomfortable about the proximity of other people. We live in central Indiana and it felt pretty similar to what we experience when we go to Target. Our only weekend park day was on Sunday at AK and it wasn't crowded at all; MK on Tuesday and HS on Wednesday were probably the heaviest crowds we encountered. We are most definitely not rope-drop people, so we didn't experience waits or crowding on transportation at all, and no lines to enter the parks. We did stay until close each day, and still didn't ride a full bus back to the resort, ever. Ride lines for us seemed inflated by about 10-15 minutes for most of the week; we only waited the full posted time on our first MK day (also one of the heaviest crowd days for us) and at HS.

We had the best time, and can't wait to go back. If I could make it happen while crowd levels are like this I totally would... I agree that as crowds increase they will really need to bring back FP in some form or fashion. Kidani Village was awesome - it wasn't my first choice, but we were moved there when our original trip fell through in March. I was worried about being so far from everything, but transportation to the parks was extremely reasonable for us. The pool wasn't too busy. Sanaa was soooo good, but the Maji pool bar left a bit to be desired. Just not many options - lunch the day we ate there ended up being Mickey pretzels. We had good dining experiences overall, including mobile order. I know others have had issues with it, but there are only 2 of us so it worked really well. I can't think of anything I'd do differently for this trip - I had a rough plan for what I wanted to do each day, and we mostly stuck to it, but it was nice to have some flexibility and not have to rush around trying to make FP times and ADRs.

 

[Kimpossible1]

Went to Epcot for a few hours, it was as crowded as a normal day pre-covid. The line for Frozen Ever After snaked out Norway and over to China to outside the quick service restaurant in China and it was posted a 60 minute wait. The Friendship boats were training CM's. We just went to walk a little, did the loop and left.