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

[Wood Nymph]

Has anyone park hopped since re-allowing?
1. Are they really making people wait until 2:00 PM or permitting in a little earlier than 2:00?
2. Anyone not been able to get into another park at 2:00 due to full capacity?
3. How have the park entrance lines been at 2:00 entry?

We were there last week and park-hopped three times - twice to Epcot and once to HS. We didn't have any trouble getting into the parks.

What we did have trouble with was trying to change our park reservation. On Wednesday we tried to change our Friday park reservation from HS to MK and all the reservations were gone for that day. We couldn't change our park reservation two days out.

 

[Lizgistix]

I'm here at Boulder Ridge from yesterday until Saturday.
Don't ask me about my room, I can see why they are getting a refurb next year.
Don't ask about my scooter rental. I'll be on my 3rd one in 2 days once it's delivered.
Don't ask about the paltry amount of nut butter I received with my chicken and waffles breakfast.
Don't ask me about how I had to schedule a telehealth doctor visit today and about half way through the video call I got notice my boarding group was called for Rise of the Resistance. I'm still at the resort, btw.
But the people are really nice!

 

[slindzy]

We were there last week and park-hopped three times - twice to Epcot and once to HS. We didn't have any trouble getting into the parks.

What we did have trouble with was trying to change our park reservation. On Wednesday we tried to change our Friday park reservation from HS to MK and all the reservations were gone for that day. We couldn't change our park reservation two days out.

Thank you! When you park hopped, was it after 2:00? Do you know if they were actually making people wait until 2:00? Just trying to figure out if they are letting people in a little before 2:00 or are they being strict on the 2:00?

 

[kabbie]

I'm here at Boulder Ridge from yesterday until Saturday.
Don't ask me about my room, I can see why they are getting a refurb next year.
Don't ask about my scooter rental. I'll be on my 3rd one in 2 days once it's delivered.
Don't ask about the paltry amount of nut butter I received with my chicken and waffles breakfast.
Don't ask me about how I had to schedule a telehealth doctor visit today and about half way through the video call I got notice my boarding group was called for Rise of the Resistance. I'm still at the resort, btw.
But the people are really nice!

What scooter company do you use?

 

[MainMom]

Was anyone in AK today? My DD was looking at wait times around 2:30 EST and it said FOP was 5 minutes! Was this correct? We leave on Sunday and the wait times today seemed pretty low overall.

 

[yulilin3]

Was anyone in AK today? My DD was looking at wait times around 2:30 EST and it said FOP was 5 minutes! Was this correct? We leave on Sunday and the wait times today seemed pretty low overall.

Its low season right now. The wait times are accurate

 

[disneylover102]

Here’s bus/park hopping/rope drop experience Tuesday and Wednesday:

Tuesday, January 12:
We took bus 56 to the TTC and bus 50 to Disney Springs. We walked to Saratoga Springs and got a bus about 7:40 to AK that got us there at 8, right when the park opened. We walked onto Na’vi and then waited about a half hour for FOP. But we should’ve just waited, because it was very short later in the day and we did it 5 times, always with a 10-20 minute wait. Around 3, I park hopped to MK. There was a bus right there that left right after I got on the bus. After MK closed at 7, we rushed to the MK bus stop and got a bus to Epcot after a few minutes. We got there about 7:35. We thought we’d have time for both Mission Space and Test Track since MS was a walk-on the day before, but we did have to wait a few minutes for the preshow room to open up, so we just did that and then got on the bus to the Polynesian and then bus 56 to Walmart and then our hotel.

Wednesday, January 13:
We got on the 5:50 bus 56 to the TTC and then the 6:20 bus 50 to Disney Springs. Just before bus 303 to HS arrived at DS, we got BG 5 for ROTR on my sister’s phone, and I was glad because I don’t have data and that stop doesn’t have wifi. You can walk a little ways off to get wifi, but then you may have to run to catch the bus. Again, the 303 bus got us to HS at 7:30 ish and then when HS actually opened at 8:10 we walked on to TOT twice and then had a very short wait the 3rd time. TOT has been having very long waits compared to the other rides while we’ve been here so those walk-ons while most people couldn’t be there yet are so precious. We spent most of the day at HS, but we left around 6:30 (with park close at 7) to avoid crowds at the skyliner (we waited a while for it last week after park closing. It’s mostly people going back to their hotels, not those going to Epcot). We got into Epcot around 7 and did Test Track. We would’ve been able to do something else too (or TT again) but it closed for 20 minutes because of the rain. We got off right after park close, so we made it on the bus to the Polynesian and the 8:58 bus from the TTC to our hotel.

 

[disneylover102]

Was anyone in AK today? My DD was looking at wait times around 2:30 EST and it said FOP was 5 minutes! Was this correct? We leave on Sunday and the wait times today seemed pretty low overall.

I was until about 2! We did FOP 8 times!!!! Actually, they were letting people get in the FP+ queue after riding, so we got to skip the slight line there was!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Here’s bus/park hopping/rope drop experience Tuesday and Wednesday:

Tuesday, January 12:
We took bus 56 to the TTC and bus 50 to Disney Springs. We walked to Saratoga Springs and got a bus about 7:40 to AK that got us there at 8, right when the park opened. We walked onto Na’vi and then waited about a half hour for FOP. But we should’ve just waited, because it was very short later in the day and we did it 5 times, always with a 10-20 minute wait. Around 3, I park hopped to MK. There was a bus right there that left right after I got on the bus. After MK closed at 7, we rushed to the MK bus stop and got a bus to Epcot after a few minutes. We got there about 7:35. We thought we’d have time for both Mission Space and Test Track since MS was a walk-on the day before, but we did have to wait a few minutes for the preshow room to open up, so we just did that and then got on the bus to the Polynesian and then bus 56 to Walmart and then our hotel.

Wednesday, January 13:
We got on the 5:50 bus 56 to the TTC and then the 6:20 bus 50 to Disney Springs. Just before bus 303 to HS arrived at DS, we got BG 5 for ROTR on my sister’s phone, and I was glad because I don’t have data and that stop doesn’t have wifi. You can walk a little ways off to get wifi, but then you may have to run to catch the bus. Again, the 303 bus got us to HS at 7:30 ish and then when HS actually opened at 8:10 we walked on to TOT twice and then had a very short wait the 3rd time. TOT has been having very long waits compared to the other rides while we’ve been here so those walk-ons while most people couldn’t be there yet are so precious. We spent most of the day at HS, but we left around 6:30 (with park close at 7) to avoid crowds at the skyliner (we waited a while for it last week after park closing. It’s mostly people going back to their hotels, not those going to Epcot). We got into Epcot around 7 and did Test Track. We would’ve been able to do something else too (or TT again) but it closed for 20 minutes because of the rain. We got off right after park close, so we made it on the bus to the Polynesian and the 8:58 bus from the TTC to our hotel.

Perhaps I'm missing some context (I just jumped into this thread in the past few days) but what is the reason for all of these buses and transfers - is it to save on parking or is it to get to the parks earlier than those who are driving somehow? What hotel are you staying at? Thanks - just wanted to understand what benefit it is providing.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

*I'm not referring to the new 30 min MH starting at the end of the month.

do we know for sure they 30 min early entry is starting at the end of the month? I haven’t been able to find a start date.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

do we know for sure they 30 min early entry is starting at the end of the month? I haven’t been able to find a start date.

30 min early entry is not starting at the end of this month. This was announced as a “later this year” benefit - No specific timeline was given.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

30 min early entry is not starting at the end of this month. This was a “later this year” benefit. No timeline was given.

Ok, that what I thought.

 

[disneylover102]

Perhaps I'm missing some context (I just jumped into this thread in the past few days) but what is the reason for all of these buses and transfers - is it to save on parking or is it to get to the parks earlier than those who are driving somehow? What hotel are you staying at? Thanks - just wanted to understand what benefit it is providing.

I apologize for being confusing. It’s hard to explain all the bus stuff

It’s both to save money renting a car and parking AND to get there before those driving. We’re staying at the Red Carpet Inn in Kissimmee. Any hotel or Airbnb along bus line 50 or 56 is fine (there’s a lot more on line 56).

Bus 56 goes to the TTC. Obviously that’s great for days you start at MK. To get to the other parks, you have to either take a lynx bus from Disney Springs to that park (only runs once a day at 7 AM) or get a bus from a Disney resort to that park (obviously a lot easier). It’s really easy to walk to the Polynesian from the TTC, but the problem is that they won’t let you use the walkway until after the TTC “opens,” which has generally been half an hour before MK opens. That obviously doesn’t work for a 9 opening at MK with an 8 opening at AK. So what you can do is take bus 50 from the TTC to Disney Springs and walk to the Saratoga Springs Resort from there, or if you go early enough, you can get a bus to HS or AK (only at 7 AM). Bus 301 goes to AK and gets there at about 7:40 and bus 303 gets to HS about 7:30, which is before any of the buses from the Disney resorts get there and cars are let in.

So the benefits are saving hundreds of dollars and possibly getting there before most people. It works great except for AK, which tends to open the earliest. Obviously having to catch a specific bus can be stressful and tedious though!

 

[disneylover102]

And here’s my park hopping/bus experience today:

We took the 6:23 bus 56 to the TTC and the 7:00 bus 50 to Disney Springs. We walked to Saratoga Springs and waited 21 minutes for a bus . We got to AK about 8:20 and got in line for Dinosaur at 8:30. That was later than we hoped, but it’s just fine because in 6 hours at AK we did Dinosaur twice and Everest and FOP 8 times each!!! We park hopped to MK around 2:30, and there was a bus already there that left a minute or two after we got on. What was unique about this time was that it didn’t say “Magic Kingdom” on the front, but it said “training” instead and the bus was a different color. Not that it mattered though. We spent a few hours in MK and after it closed we hurried to the MK bus stop. There was a bus to Epcot just leaving (that we weren’t on), but another bus there came literally right after we got in line for that bus. We got to Epcot a little after 7:30 and got in line for Test Track before park closing at 8. When we got off and got to the buses, the one to the Polynesian was just leaving, but another one came a minute later. We got to the Polynesian just in time to rush to the TTC and make it on the 8:57 bus 56 to our hotel.

 

[Lizgistix]

What scooter company do you use?

Scooterbug. I think it was just bad luck this time because I've rented from them before and haven't had any problems. They are really quick to handle things. They say in 2 hours but I've had ECVs delivered in less time than that.

 

[StarGirl11]

Has anyone park hopped since re-allowing?
1. Are they really making people wait until 2:00 PM or permitting in a little earlier than 2:00?
2. Anyone not been able to get into another park at 2:00 due to full capacity?
3. How have the park entrance lines been at 2:00 entry?

Hopped three times in one day (DHS -> Epcot -> DHS -> Epcot) with no problem.

1. I didn't ever get there early enough before 2:00 to say for sure. But judging by the backed up line when I got off the Skyliner for Epcot one day it was definitely being held until 2.

2. Didn't experience it.

3. Only did one 2:00 hop. It was backed up towards the bridge. But it wasn't winding so it wasn't horrible. Think I was in by about 2:05/2:10.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Thank you! When you park hopped, was it after 2:00? Do you know if they were actually making people wait until 2:00? Just trying to figure out if they are letting people in a little before 2:00 or are they being strict on the 2:00?

I think the earliest we parked hopped was around 3:30pm.

 

[disneylover102]

Has anyone park hopped since re-allowing?
1. Are they really making people wait until 2:00 PM or permitting in a little earlier than 2:00?
2. Anyone not been able to get into another park at 2:00 due to full capacity?
3. How have the park entrance lines been at 2:00 entry?

The earliest I’ve park hopped has been around 2:30 or 3 (I’ve park hopped at least once every day since the 6th, except for I wasn’t at Disney on the 10th). We’ve never had any trouble with capacity. It doesn’t seem like a ton of people are park hopping. We haven’t ever park hopped to HS, as it’s better to just start there in order to be eligible for a ROTR boarding group. But we’ve hopped to MK and AK a lot and Epcot every day (since it closes later) and capacity hasn’t ever been mentioned.

 

[blistex]

My biggest question is how crowded is it actually? I keep hearing it's not that crowded, it's easy to stay apart from people, but then I see pictures in trip reports from December that look pretty crowded, uncomfortably so for my family. We would be there President's Day week which is often nearly as crowded as the week before Christmas so I'm concerned. As a specific example, one person took a picture just upon arriving in MK with a view up Main Street, and it looked as crowded as any regular day at Disney just with masks. Is that unusual right now or is that about what we should expect if we decide to go?

 

[Orion Nebula]

My biggest question is how crowded is it actually? I keep hearing it's not that crowded, it's easy to stay apart from people, but then I see pictures in trip reports from December that look pretty crowded, uncomfortably so for my family. We would be there President's Day week which is often nearly as crowded as the week before Christmas so I'm concerned. As a specific example, one person took a picture just upon arriving in MK with a view up Main Street, and it looked as crowded as any regular day at Disney just with masks. Is that unusual right now or is that about what we should expect if we decide to go?

I have been rabidly going through every trip report for the past few months, both here and other places. And it has been SO hit and miss, if I had to guess though it seems 1/2 of the people thought it was great, then the rest were split between "we had a OK time but..." and "it was horrible". Like you I went through a bunch of pictures and came across the same result. Some showed nearly empty streets, others looked like any other time. I did however start to correlate some of them with certain times. For instance as expected weekends were always more crowded. And the scattering of ups and downs were more prevalent during the holidays. Then obviously the "empty" streets shots were from like Tuesday & Wednesdays.

So my conclusion has been try and schedule ALL of my park days Monday (unless holiday) through Thursday but I am only going for a week. And I am for sure avoid DS on the weekend.