Just returned from 3 days at WDW. Myself, DH, and DD (age 4) stayed at Pop 11/2 - 11/5 and went to MK, HS, and EP. DH and I grew up going to Cedar Point. We are used to long lines that constantly move. We also don't mind going hard in the parks and crashing at the end of the day. We did not miss the parades, fireworks, and other frills missing from Disney. The cavalcades were wonderful surprises during our stay. We are ride junkies predominantly and enjoy strategizing to stay ahead of the crowds. We did find the food situation frustrating at times (constantly having to plan ahead and mobile order, looking for seating, etc.)
MK - Tues 11/3
1st bus for Pop came at 8:15, Arrived MK approx 8:30. Basically no line at temp and security checks.
Power walked to Seven Dwarfs, already running, waited maybe 15 minutes? Walking the whole time, standing once or twice. Headed to Peter Pan, waited maybe 10 minutes. Over to Haunted Mansion, no wait. Missed the stretching room :-( Waits at Splash and Big Thunder were still fairly low on Lines App so we decided to risk it and take DD to the height check. Splash: just barely tall enough! I wooped for joy! Waited about 20 minutes. She wasn't scarred by the 50 foot drop so Big Thunder next, roughly 15 min wait. By then it was about 10:30 and we were ready for a break and a snack. Westward Ho corn dog nuggets and a mobile ordered Dole Whip split among the 3 of us. Perfect amount of food to carry us to lunch. We found a shade umbrella up against the wall outside the Tiki Room to sit and eat. A cast member came by and checked that all 3 of us were eating since we had masks off. Casually strolled back to Circus Circus for Barnstormer (8 min wait) and Dumbo (5 minute wait). Strolled to the front of the park and left for 12:45 Whispering Canyon res. Waited far too long for the boat (nearly 30 minutes). Amazing lunch and much needed rest in the AC. Headed back to MK at 2pm raring to go. Buzz Light-year (15, maybe 20 minute wait). Looked forlornly at the People Mover track (one of my favorite rides). PoTC felt like a loooong wait - I thinks Lines App said 25 minute wait and we definitely waited every minute of it. Got lucky though because as we were on the ride they initiated a cleaning cycle, so we avoided that delay by mere minutes. DD wanted BTMRR again and that time we waited 20-25 min. We crossed the hub back to Winnie the Pooh (15 minutes). We had thought to hang around fantasy land riding things and jump on line for SDMT right at 6, but DD liked Splash and BTMM so much, she asked if we could do one of them again. At 5:25 we power walked back to Splash because Lines App said it was down to a 25 min wait. Real wait was more like 15min, if that. We got off the ride with plenty of time to walk over to BTMM for our final ride of the day! Shopping and milling around then until our 6:40pm Be Our Guest res. Expensive, but a nice way to end the night. We walked out to a deserted park apart from 2 other families.
HS - Wed, 11/4
I don't think everyone is aware of the change to boarding group reservations. I selected "join queue" at 7am and got boarding group 48. Never practiced and never sought out tips and tricks for doing it right. Hadn't intended to do Rise on this trip, but since MK confirmed DD is 40" I though why not? Transportation from POP to HS is fraught with uncertainty and anxiety. I figured Rope Drop was still important because we wanted to ride MMRR and SDD, hopefully twice. We checked the skyliner at 7:10. 3 groups in line and the gondolas were already running through their test paces. We grabbed our breakfast from the food court and decided to eat it in line for the skyliner. We were 5 groups back at that point. Someone mentioned the skyliner started boarding at 8:30 a previous day. We worried about the line at CBR which we would have to join. They did indeed load us and send is off to CBR at 8:30. At CBR, we disembarked and we're directed immediately to the short HS queue - for some reason they were allowing us to bypass the longer line of CBR guests? So I guess my recommendation would be to get in line at POP/AoA as early as possible. A few cars behind us they started directing those folks to the end of the CBR guest line. We arrived at HS to lines being held at temp check. We were maybe 15-20 groups back. At 9:15 on the dot, they let us go through. Security was different from MK. Strollers were being checked separately. I walked through with our bag, but DH got stuck behind a family with a stroller who weren't prepared at ALL. I had husband's phone so I dithered about whether I should race to MMRR and secure a spot but worried he wouldn't find me. Eventually I did dash off. I had lost some ground, but I managed to pull ahead of a LOT of people by power walking on the sidewalk. Ultimately we were reunited in line and waited about 15 minutes for MMRR and then ran to SDD (45 min wait). I used the Lines App all day to help us pick our next ride. Muppets Show was next (12 min wait), then Star Tours (12 min wait). I had mobile ordered lunch in line for SDD and after Star Tours our pickup window was just about to close. I tapped "I'm Here" and we headed to get our food. We anticipated our Boarding group would be called within the hour so we took our time with lunch, relaxing in the AC. Then we left for Rise. I didn't expect we would wait so long, but that queue is very winding. I think we waited 20 min, possibly 25. Excellent ride, and I'm sure it's even better without COVID restrictions. DD really enjoyed it. Next up TSMM (15 min wait) and AS2 (12 min wait). Then Frozen Ever After (eh, it was okay. I thought DD would enjoy it more but we were way off to one side in the very front, so she couldn't see everything). I dropped DH's phone in the theater and when we realized it later, the CM supervisor/manager had it waiting to see if anyone returned quickly before sending it off to the main lost and found. Relieved! Snack time: you definitely want the Wookie Cookie from Backlot Express. We washed it down with Blue Milk (DH and I really liked it, DD did not). We had done every ride and show we wanted and it was just past 5pm. With 2 hours left, we got popcorn and soda, set DD up with cartoons on a tablet in her stroller and waited an hour for MMRR again. The line moved constantly and was fully shaded since the sun was setting. You can keep your stroller until you are about to enter the building (and at that point your wait is down to 15-20 minutes). First ride we were in the first car, second ride we were in the last car. Really fun to see the differences in view from those 2 seats. SDD was reportedly a 49 min wait on Lines. I had promised DD we would try to do SDD at night when the lights are on, so we toughed it out. That line is a harder wait because you have to ditch your stroller once you enter the proper queue (which is about a 30min wait from that point). DH and I traded off holding DD and keeping her occupied. We sat in the first 2 seats both times we rode SDD. DD loved it at night and said it was her favorite ride of the day. We enjoyed a circuitous route on the skyliner to pick up dinner in the Epcot resort area (and to time the trip back to POP from there) and then headed to POP, utterly exhausted, but happy.
EP and travel day Thurs 11/5
I don't think the skyliner from POP is a good way to get to EP. We got in line right before 8:30 upon recommendation of some some folks we met the day before. They said the line to connect at CBR would be VERY long, but traveling that early we would make it to EP by 10:30. The line at CBR turned out to be very short because there were a ton of busses there for HS. We were there stupid early (8:50). Skyliner to EP started at 10:20, but we were clearly not early to EP. We ran to Test Track and waited about 25 minutes. Should have gone straight to Soarin' then, but I screwed up and thought we could work our way around to it. Spaceship Earth said 5 min, but then quickly adjusted to 20 min after we got in line and that was our real wait time. Seas w/ Nemo was a walk on. It was noon and Soarin' was listed as a 45 min wait on Lines App. DH really wanted to ride it, so we stuck it out. At least the line was indoors with AC as it was getting hot! A cleaning cycle was performed right before we boarded - I think we waited the full 45 min. We were seated in the center section and it was great! We all loved it! We got a snack in Canada, picked up sandwiches and pastries to eat at the airport from Le Halle, and exited to the skyliner at 2:30.
We never felt unsafe, mask compliance was above 95%. I wasn't concerned about social distancing when walking around. Standing in lines social distancing was generally good. We would frequently talk to DD about ensuring we gave our line neighbors space and I think that helped tip people off that we cared and they paid better attention to not encroaching us. I saw plenty of lines where people were all bunched up on each other, but we always ensured our own safe space. While standing still in line, taking a bite of food or a drink of water with mask off was permitted. (Popcorn is an excellent park snack because you can slip a piece into your mouth under your mask so you can snack while on the move.
Disney is SO MUCH BETTER when not being crammed against 100,000 strangers. I loved having our own space on transportation and in lines. I loved that the parks did not feel bursting to the gills with people. I honestly did not miss Fast Pass (with the current capacity limits I'm not sure it's necessary). Limited menus and restaurants was probably our biggest complaint. I am happy to answer any questions
Can't wait to go back!
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