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

[tsme]

We just got back today from a week stay. It was our second time going since corona. We have APs. We found it more crowded than a normal September, but not as crowded as mid Dec or during the marathon in Jan, & most lines were long. Also, unless we were in a line, there was no social distancing. Even in some lines people weren’t adhering to the distancing lines. We watched the HM line from Liberty Tree one day (it was stretched out far pass Liberty riverboat) & were amazed how many people did not stop on their line. They would creep to about 2-3 feet behind the party in front of them. I think people just don’t pay attention. While walking, standing, etc people are next to each other too. It didn’t really bother us, but I’m mentioning because I know others would be bothered & that’s important to know before going.
We ate at table service restaurants & never did mobile ordering. I did find it harder to get reservations than it usually is. I wish Disney would open more restaurants. They are needed. Also the new mask rule didn’t come into play until I think the day we left, if it was sooner, no one said anything to us. Personally I think it’s going to cause more grief for the CMs. I could see potential for servers to lose tips if they are forced to keep telling people to put back on their masks when not eating or drinking at their table, which is sad for them & stress they don’t need.
I did miss all the usual interactions with CMs. Some try but it’s so hard with restrictions & masks. We did meet a wonderful CM in Canada who told us fun, interesting facts about Canada. He was so sweet & friendly. I really believe CMs make Disney.
We spent maybe a few hours a day in the parks & a lot of time relaxing in our room. We’re two adults & go twice a year, so we weren’t upset with that. But about midway thru our trip, DH said we shouldn’t renew our passes. Though by the end of the trip we had already rebooked our next Disney trip, . Disney just pulls us back. I think we might be addicts. Addiction to the mouse is real.

 

[emmabelle]

Addiction to the mouse is real.

That’s for sure

 

[md1982]

Feb. 22- Monday-Arrival and Epcot

Landed around 9:45 am, straight to Magical Express and on the bus in less than 5 minutes. Left about ten minutes later with 2 stops before finally arriving at Coronado at 11:00. Got out room info just as we were pulling in. Room in Ranchos with easy access to two bus stops. Dropped off luggage and straight to bus. 5 minutes later on the bus abs walking into Epcot at 12:00.

I love the new security and ticket entry. Basically walked right through with zero lines. This is a big new plus.

Test Track-30 min wait, 45 posted
Mission Space-Walk On, 30 posted
Snacks and drinks in Mexico (10 minute wait) and China (no waits)
Frozen-25 min, 35 posted
More drinks and snacks around the world. Waits for food and drinks were the shortest I’ve ever had at a festival. Caught Voices of Liberty, wonderful as always! Caught 2 cavalcades.
Joined wait list for Spice Road Table, called in 10 minutes. Food was fantastic!!! Well spaced tables outside. Loved every minute of this!
Spaceship Earth-7 min wait
Nemo-Walk On
Figment-Walk On
Living with the Land-Walk On
Soarin-30 min, 45 posted

Only thing we missed we wanted to do was Gran Fiesta. Tricky with line into pavilion then line for the ride. But given we arrived an hour after park opened I can’t complain. Park was full of life but not too busy for my tastes. Easy to pull aside for a drink or bite. Mask compliance was excellent. Don’t love the plexiglass on Frozen. Probably the worst plexiglass situation but I can live with it. I loved fast passes cause I knew how to work them but I also love everyone on the same playing field and being able to ride Frozen in the afternoon with no planning and 25 min wait. When else does that happen?! Do some rides at opening and save the west side of future world for the evening.

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

Today was my first full day on this trip and it was an Animal Kingdom morning.

I drove and tried arriving at the parking area around 6:50 but the parking plaza was blocked off and they were forcing us to turn around. After looping around twice, at 7:02 I finally pulled over to the shoulder and waited with other cars. It was 7:10 before they finally removed the cones and allowed people to pull towards the parking plaza...and it was 7:13 before the guard (slowly) removed all the cones at the gates, not allowing any of the cars to pull forward until he gave them the "OK" to approach the parking agent.

At one point, it kinda felt like a game he was playing...(NO SOUP FOR YOU )

IF you are staying on property: take the bus if you are going to AK.

I did pay for preferred parking and was the 2nd car parked in that section. Yet, by the time I got to temperature check there were quite a few folks already in. I was fully through temperature check and ticketing by 7:35. Most people headed to Pandora. I stopped for a quick photo in front of the Tree of Life and then headed to the Safari. They held us in line until about 7:50 at which time the line was growing - at least 7 families in front of me and 15 to 20 families behind me.

I made it on the 1st Safari as did the family behind me and the rest went to the 2nd (or 3rd) vehicles.

The safari was delightful - hippos were out, painted dogs, as well as 3 of the juvenile/baby giraffes...best of all is Ranger the baby Rhino is out. He was let out this morning with just his mom and we were not allowed to stop, just go slowly and they asked us to be very quiet as he is getting used to being out and the trucks. He was gallivanting around with a lot of joy.

I was off the Safari at 8:13 and headed to Asia where I did Everest (5 minute wait). I got a breakfast sandwich at Trek Snacks and it was very underwhelming (but I knew I needed some food). The Cast Member was surly and when I asked if there was anything besides the sausage/egg biscuit she said no, turned her back to me, and then said DO YOU WANT IT OR NOT?. I said yes, please and she threw it on the counter, let me swipe a gift card, and walked away without another word. It was very overcooked and I wish I had realized that Yak & Yeti Local Foods was serving as I would have gotten something there. I walked over near the Jungle Trek to have a few bites (I ate about half - it was kinda hard and over cooked) while I waited for the Jungle Trek to open (which is at 9 AM).

Tigers were out and somewhat active. Birds were having their breakfast. The big bird there is named Alfred.

I did It's Tough to Be a Bug - and since the exit puts you out in Africa, I walked around through Pandora to check the crowds. By this time (9:50), the line for Safari was being wound through the Festival of the Lion King que. FOP was 50 minutes with the line on the bridge almost to Africa, and the Navi River line all the way across the bridge into Discovery Island (didn't see the wait time. I peeked into some shops and then sat down to wait for The Nomad Lounge to open. A line began forming around 10:30 and by 10:40, it was about 10 deep. By 11 AM, the line was about 20 deep.

After a perfectly lovely time in the Nomad Lounge - a total different experience with Cast Members here - I made my way out of the park and headed to MK.

One note about the crowds: Mask Compliance in AK was about 80%. SO many noses, lots of people wearing the masks around their chins, and I saw dozens of people taking masks off to take photos as well as people trying to drink while walking. Cast Members are calling them out when they see it but they can't be everywhere. I chatted with some folks in line for Nomad Lounge that said the Safari driver stopped at one point and told a woman that if she didn't put her mask on, he'd have security meet them at the end (they said he called the same woman 3 or 4 times during the Safari)

I arrived in MK around 1:30 and it was too early to hop. I was able to tap in at 1:47. As I was entering, the Princess Cavalcade was making it's way down main street. Main Street wasn't too bad, but once I got into Fantasy Land there were just people everywhere.. A bit better mask compliance than AK but not much - there were lots of noses, folks taking masks off for photos, and some kiddos taking their masks down despite their parents constantly pulling their masks back down.

I did 7 Dwarfs, Little Mermaid, and Peter Pan then left. It was just TOO hot and too crowded for me. Mickey's Philharmonic was a 30 minute wait and the line looped around the building next to it and around the corner.

I did not go into any other area of the parks besides Fantasyland but glanced at the wait times with nothing under 35 minutes (Haunted Mansion) (Well, Flying Carpets was 25).

Headed to the Grand Floridian where I arrived around 3:40. Waited for The Enchanted Rose to open and had a cocktail, chatted with other folks at the bar, and then had some wonderful sliders. (drinks being at 4 but food not til 5)

THAT was the first full day. I had a very good day but then I know that my idea of a good day may not be the same for others. This was NOT like last October or even last month.

I saw a lot of meltdowns from little kiddos. It was hot, crowded, and most of them are not used to wearing masks. I would NOT recommend now for a 1st time trip right now, especially if your family has been home and no one is used to wearing masks. Getting used to wearing the masks is tough especially in this heat. If you and your kiddos are used to wearing masks for hours at a time, I still wouldn't recommend this time period for 1st visits.

THAT said, for folks like me: AP, no need to "do everything", and can happily leave the park when it feels crowded after doing some favorites: go if you need to be in the magic.

This is a different level of folks than was here last month - and while I still believe Disney is keeping to their 35% of capacity, this is 35% of FULL CAPACITY.

 

[momto2]

Hi all. First time poster, long-time lurker. I've gotten many helpful tips from these boards over the years so I'd thought I'd report on our Feb 25 quick visit. We had rented a house in SW FL for the kids' winter break and drove down from NY. DS13 asked if we could stop at DHS to see GE on the way back home (he'd never been). With only about 2 weeks to plan, we were able to get 2 nights at the Yacht Club, DHS park res on the 25th, and Trattoria al Forno for arrival dinner on Feb 24. No Savi's, Droid Depot, Ogas or SciFi ressies were available. By checking occasionally, I was able to get both my kids Savi's @9:05am and a Mama Melrose dinner @ park close. Never saw Ogas or SciFi become available, and I stopped looking for Droid Depot after we got Savi's.
We arrived at the YC midafternoon on the 24th. I thought the kids would want to go to SAB but after being in the car they wanted to walk around. So we walked over to Fantasia mini golf and played the Gardens course. Although there were no cast members on the course (just by the entrance), all the groups were respectful about social distancing and hung back until the group ahead cleared out. After golf we went to the Boardwalk. Perused the main shop (no wait) and walked around. Big River was open and had a lot of outdoor tables set up (seemed pretty full to me). Also a lot of people around the pizza window. Our dinner at Trattoria AF was delicious. The open kitchen gives the dining room a good energy even with the spaced tables.
The next morning we woke up at 6:45 for the ROTR firedrill. We didn't practice beforehand but I had read all the tips and told the kids to keep pressing join, join, join and don't stop to read anything. Used time.gov and pressed exactly at 7. DS13 got us BG12. Our room at the YC was at the end near the DHS path (turned out great for us). We left our room at 7:45 and were at DHS a little after 8. Got in line (about 30 feet back from the tent) and they let us in at exactly 8:15. Did SDD then TSMM with no wait. Walked into GE to check into Savi's. We had to wait about 15 minutes before we got called in. Both DS13 and DD8 enjoyed the experience although it is definitely a one and done. Went over to ROTR as soon as we left Savi's and basically walked on. Awesome ride, highlight of the day. Then we waited about 45 min for MFSR. The queue seems to wind around everywhere, even behind the ride in a staging area. We mobile ordered from Docking Bay while waiting and picked up our meal a few minutes after we left the ride. Maybe we were starved by the time we ate, but it didn't seem like a lot of food. And the cast members were hovering to take our trays after eating when we were still drinking our drinks.
After lunch I walked back to YC to drop off the light sabers (how do people carry them around all day? they are long and heavy), and my kids did Star Tours without me (15 min wait). We met back up at RNRC (posted 45 min) but DD chickened out so we did ToT instead. Posted 60 min, took about that long. DS left the line to bring back drinks because much of the queue is in the full sun. We took sips and pulled our masks up in between. After TT we waited about 45 min for MMRR, again in the full sun. After that we went to the Muppets (no wait) just to take a break from sun/standing. Then did some of the shops in GE (long wait for Market), rode Saucers (15 min), TSMM again (30 min), and did SDD (40 min) right before closing (it's definitely better at night with the lights on). Had a nice dinner at Mama Melrose and walked through a relatively empty park just before 8 to catch the last boat back to YC. Overall a fun day. Although the lines move quickly, don't underestimate the effect of being on your feet all the time and in the sun. We were exhausted and there is no way I could keep up that pace for more than a day or two.

when you said your room at YC was near DHS walk, where was this? Could you please give me some directions? I would so appreciate it. I heard there is a shorter walk through BW?

 

[brockash]

we entered like normal and then went out a side exit door before we started up the ramps. We would around outside for a bit then back in, up the ramp and on like normal. It was so strange. We waited about 35 minutes if I remember correctly. Not awful but warmer than we expected for sure!

How odd...we were there in Oct. and the wait was 60 mins., but didn't go outside...weird.

 

[mickey+minnie91]

For those into the details, we had four people trying for BG this morning. Two on Disney WiFi, one on data in the room, one on data outside. One of us on Disney wifi got it. We did speed tests this morning and wifi was faster than our Verizon iPhones.

How do you do a speed test?

 

[wilkydelts]

@TexanInTheMidwest why did you say to take the bus to AK if staying on property? Did you feel like you were that far behind the crowds? If you went straight to Pandora how do you think it would have gone?

 

[mrsap]

How do you do a speed test?

Go to https://fast.com/ and it will show you your current WiFi speed. Turn off WiFi and run again with LTE on. Just refresh https://fast.com/ once you’ve turned off WiFi and it will give your your LTE speed. Use whichever speed is faster. Good luck!

 

[scrappinginontario]

For those doing the speed tests, do you find it changes greatly closer to 7am when many are online? I will need to use Disney wifi and can only think many others may too.

 

[RunWI1265]

Back home today. Overall thoughts were it was crowded but I think that’s because there isn’t as much to do. We still had fun and because we go so often it really didn’t matter to us. The weather was so beautiful we actually decided to stay an extra day and went from BCV over to the Dolphin for the night. The mask compliance over there is a total joke in the outdoor areas. I was so surprised, coming from MA you can’t basically take a walk around your neighborhood without one. Lol

i don’t think we’ll update our AP’s. It’s just hard when people don’t follow the rules. Mask compliance is a thing and if you can’t do it then don’t go. I felt I spent too much time focusing on it because I like things to be fair for everyone. Some people just don’t feel the same way, so we’ll wait and see what the fall brings.

ugh that’s disappointing to hear about mask compliance at the dolphin. We are booked there for May. I’m with you on seeing other people break the rules. It’s frustrating. If I’m able to keep my space it doesn’t do anything but annoy me. And make me wonder what is so hard about keeping a mask on. If I can’t get away, like being stuck on a bus and a family sitting across from us takes off their mask then I get mad.

 

[Brittany Fata]

Just returned from a trip 2/22-226. Coronado Springs, one day in each park. It was a little bit more crowded than I thought it would be, however posts claiming they’ve never seen the walkways this crowded are extreme over exaggerations. Granted I was only in the parks on weekdays. But normal busy zones like galaxy’s edge, fantasyland, etc were all much less crowded than in normal times. My last trip was exactly a year ago and galaxy’s edge was packed, not at all the same this trip.

I never felt wall to wall people on this trip. And mask compliance was excellent.Yes there are moments when you walk past people and are not 6 ft apart, but if I am outside, with masks on, I’m very ok with that. Ask anyone that lives in a city. I live in NYC and it was very similar to walking down the sidewalks here. Or taking the subway. And I felt I always had a place to pull over to avoid people. The only moments I didn’t love were exiting rides. Things could get a bit tight especially on FOP, and others, but you are only next to people for a few moments and almost always with proper masks. If you’re comfortable at a grocery store with full mask compliance you will feel comfortable here!

We only waited to get into a gift shop once, exiting MK. Wait times are highly over estimated. Never waited longer than the posted time. Lines constantly moved which is mice. Had no problems with mobile ordering, or grabbing food. Buses were excellent, loved always having a seat to rest the feet. Mask compliance was excellent and loved that cast members corrected people constantly. Outside I saw a few improper masks under the nose or chin but never once saw someone inside breaking the mask rules. I felt quite comfortable. Will go into more detail day just day in upcoming posts! But just want to say don’t get scared by some fear-mongers. Know your own limits, manage your expectations and plan well.

Thank you for your report, I also live in NYC so I appreciate your comparison. I have been on the fence, but your report has helped ease some of my concerns.

 

[Jerseyroaddevil]

when you said your room at YC was near DHS walk, where was this? Could you please give me some directions? I would so appreciate it. I heard there is a shorter walk through BW?

We were in YC room 3030. Right near a stairwell that comes out on the side of the building, very close to the bridge to BW and Swan/Dolphin. Once over the bridge you can get on the DHS walking path. The BW would be even closer as you can pick up the path directly next to the BW resort grounds (I could see the BW pool from the path).

 

[lovethattink]

For those doing the speed tests, do you find it changes greatly closer to 7am when many are online? I will need to use Disney wifi and can only think many others may too.

Be sure to use time.gov on another device to be sure you try for a bg at the right time. As soon as I see it say 6:59:59 I click join on my phone. I used Disney WiFi and got a bg. Like 60’s or 70’s. Using my phones service I was able to get in the early teens.

 

[GBRforWDW]

For those doing the speed tests, do you find it changes greatly closer to 7am when many are online? I will need to use Disney wifi and can only think many others may too.

Yes, I saw big fluctuations when I ran the tests while at Disney. Good news for you though is that in room WiFi ended up being faster for me just before 7am.

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

How do you do a speed test?

There is a Speedtest app. Very simple once you download it. We checked both data and WiFi with it.

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

B E A Utiful day yesterday at HS!

We were through temp check and tapatiles on to MMRR by 8:30. Did MMRR, MFSR, RotR, AS2, TSMM and were waiting outside Docking Bay 7 when it opened at 11. Awesome lunch!! Did Star Tours after then took a break to take DS’s legacy saber back to the room and take a dip in the pool.

Back at 4 for Oga’s (cool but definitely one and done), then on to MMRR, RnRC, TSMM, SDD, and MFSR. My other DS had a Savi’s reservation for Wednesday but we checked after Oga’s and they put us on the wait list. Got called just before park closing and knocked that out. DS loved carrying his saber out in the dark

Awesome day there. Crowded but not awful and definitely manageable. No issues with masks and, other than getting through the tapstiles, no issues with distancing. Everyone kept their distance at temp check and then got all over each iother to scan their bands.

Off to AK today!

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

@TexanInTheMidwest why did you say to take the bus to AK if staying on property? Did you feel like you were that far behind the crowds? If you went straight to Pandora how do you think it would have gone?

I talked to a couple that Ubered (were second in the line of cars) and they went straight to Pandora and said it was about 20 minutes. So, the first busses probably had about 10-15 (just the walk thru the que)

 

[WEDWDW]

Though by the end of the trip we had already rebooked our next Disney trip, . Disney just pulls us back. I think we might be addicts. Addiction to the mouse is real.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!!

We call it DISNEY CRACK!

But we always say that being addicted to DISNEY CRACK is better than being addicted to CRACK CRACK!lol

 

[emmabelle]

ugh that’s disappointing to hear about mask compliance at the dolphin. We are booked there for May. I’m with you on seeing other people break the rules. It’s frustrating. If I’m able to keep my space it doesn’t do anything but annoy me. And make me wonder what is so hard about keeping a mask on. If I can’t get away, like being stuck on a bus and a family sitting across from us takes off their mask then I get mad.

Honestly, I couldn't believe how bad the guests were. The hotel was letting everyone sit at the lobby bar without spacing too. What?? I said to my husband apparently you can do whatever you want at the Dolphin. The chairs at the pool were all next to each other, even though it said they were supposed to be 6 feet apart. We just went and sat on the sand part and it was nice there although a little bit of a walk to get wet. haha

I was glad we hadn't spent the week there and it's a shame because I do like the Swan and Dolphin.