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

[slyster]

We did a dinner reservation and then just left after, which was fine. If you want to do shops or just walk around I would suggest going early in the day.

Thanks I was sort of hoping that. I just want to try dinner there!

 

[Catvondita]

Are there times during the day the airport is less busy? My family and I are planning on going May 1-7 which is landing on a Saturday and Leaving on a Friday (which I'm sure are busy days normally). Just trying to figure out some hacks that can keep us a little more safe if there's no compliance at the airport.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

I think conventional wisdom holds that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the least traveled days of the week (not accounting for holidays)

 

[NashvilleMama]

Weekdays are definitely the better choice. DS on weekends is a nightmare and if you drive parking is worse.

how are Sunday nights? Just as bad?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Are there times during the day the airport is less busy? My family and I are planning on going May 1-7 which is landing on a Saturday and Leaving on a Friday (which I'm sure are busy days normally). Just trying to figure out some hacks that can keep us a little more safe if there's no compliance at the airport.

I've found evenings quieter in airports than the morning or afternoon.

 

[Daisy7425]

Just trying to figure out some hacks that can keep us a little more safe if there's no compliance at the airport.

I'd like to hopefully give you a sense of ease a little bit with the airports. We just flew through Atlanta, Key West and Fort Lauderdale airports about two weeks ago and mask compliance was at about 99%. I was surprised. We found both Delta and United Airlines to be great with cleaning and measures to reduce exposure. This was my first time flying since covid and I was really nervous about it but I felt safe the entire time.

 

[2minny]

OMG never ever had that long of a line in all of the times we have been there too...wow

What on earth, I need to know more about this, is this the norm lately?

 

[brockash]

So are the CMs just not being honest or not communicating with the operating crew or what?

The same thing happened to us today. As we were walking through at 10:18, they were telling everyone the ride would not start till around 11. I decided to leave my daughter in line and run to the restroom since it would be a longer wait than anticipated. It wasn’t a minute or 2 later she texted me that they were already loading the ride and I ended up missing it.

They aren't being honest. I'm not sure why they're trained to mislead, but it happens constantly and is one of my biggest pet peeves about Disney...you can't trust what comes out of their mouth.

I'm sure it has to do with limiting disappointment etc. but man it's frustrating.

 

[OKWFan88]

They aren't being honest. I'm not sure why they're trained to mislead, but it happens constantly and is one of my biggest pet peeves about Disney...you can't trust what comes out of their mouth.

I'm sure it has to do with limiting disappointment etc. but man it's frustrating.

When SDD went down at rope drop last week this one CM kept telling all of us in line it wouldn’t be up for a few hours and that we were wasting time staying in line. I was about 50 people back from the front of the line. In about ten min time I was second in line as all of the people listened to him and got out of the line. The ride was back up in 30 min and we were so glad we didn’t take his advice and get out of the line.

 

[Castlequeen5]

When SDD went down at rope drop last week this one CM kept telling all of us in line it wouldn’t be up for a few hours and that we were wasting time staying in line. I was about 50 people back from the front of the line. In about ten min time I was second in line as all of the people listened to him and got out of the line. The ride was back up in 30 min and we were so glad we didn’t take his advice and get out of the line.

Same thing happened to us at RnR. We were trying to get in line around 8:40ish, before official park opening at 9. There were several CMs telling us the ride wasn’t open, and they didn’t know when it would open. They were discouraging us from forming a line. Not 2 minutes later, they opened the gate and let everyone through. We were on the ride at 8:48.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

What on earth, I need to know more about this, is this the norm lately?

I too would like to know. The easy explanation is that distancing makes the lines look far longer than it actually takes (not dissimilar to in-park lines). Another explanation is the scarcity of available drivers. The sinister explanation is Mears/Disney has no incentive to keep up with the efficiency given the end of the contract, and are doing to bare minimum to get by as it sunsets.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We experienced the 7 am glitch where for about 2 minutes the app told everyone that they didn't have a park pass. I gave up after 15 seconds because I assumed it was an issue on my end, but screenshotted my issue so I could see the Guest Experience Team when we got there.

We were at WDW last week and experienced the boarding group glitch, too. I knew something was wrong on Disney's end because I knew how it was supposed to work. My husband gave up trying but I just kept hitting the join button and finally got a boarding group for just me. We went to DHS and the CM was able to give my DH a boarding group because I had one.

What on earth, I need to know more about this, is this the norm lately?

We experienced a really long line for ME when our flight landed around 12:30pm in February. But when we take an earlier flight which lands around 9:30am, the line is short. The social distancing is what makes the line so long. Once you get into the bus waiting area, it isn't crowded.

 

[Geomom]

Today, Monday 4/19, magic kingdom
Got to park at 11am. So many people there today! Felt worse than hollywood studios yesterday even though both parks were at capacity, maybe we just weren't in the more crowded areas at Hollywood studios... magic kingdom just seemed crowded everywhere. But...it wasn't as bad as a normal February vacation...did look similar to normal april vacation though. Lots of people ignoring the please wait here markers and lots of lax mask wearing... probably still 90% full compliance...but you notice the ones who don't...they also tend to be the people not stopping on the markers. Had 2 kids bump into me in lines which shouldn't even be possible right now when I'm standing on my line. Also had a woman on her phone bump into my daughters shoulder while walking past us to catch up to her group at Dumbo. It was completely unexpected and scared DD16. No apology, don't think the woman even noticed. So many oblivious people today.

Okay... enough ranting. We did go on a bunch of rides and had some fun anyways. Did Buzz and carousel of progress before 1pm lunch at liberty tree tavern at diamond horseshoe. Food was yummy. Haunted mansion, peter pan, ariel, dumbo, shopping, tiki room, country bears, mine train. Mobile ordered dinner at pecos bill around 7ish. Wait times way down by 7:30. Walked on haunted mansion, 10-15 for peter pan and small world, then walked on Pooh to end our night. Left magic kingdom at 8:45pm. Caught a bus back quickly. Managed to do 13 rides/attractions...so while there seem to be people everywhere, you can still get a lot done... just wish those people would stay further away from me, lol.

Also wanted to add compliance seemed better at Hollywood studios. On every ride at Hollywood studios they reminded people to keep masks over nose and mouth...only heard it a couple times at magic kingdom and the CMs there just don't seem to be asking the non compliers to cover up.

Oh, have they stopped cleaning rides every 2 hrs? Never encountered it this trip so far. (We went July/August 2020 and had lots of cleaning stops and saw much better social distancing and mask compliance then as well). Did see CMs cleaning railings on property though... just not the rides.

Walked over 15,000 steps both yesterday and today.

Sorry for the long post today... people just really annoyed us today!!!

 

[Gearbm95]

Just got back to the hotel from MK...

Observations:

1) Covid regulations at MK are laughable...not ONE time today did we see guests following the social distancing markers in line...not one CM said a word to anyone. The line for POTC was hilarious how packed in it was, why even go through the trouble of pretending to care, Disney clearly has no plans on currently enforcing their distancing rules.

2) Not one CM mentioned anything to guests about mask wearing. Sat outside Space Mtn for about 60mins and saw at least 40-50 people wearing masks incorrectly, again not one CM enforcing this.

3) Arrived to the park around 3pm, got our DAS pass and was able to have all the following rides done by 8:15...Buzz, Space Mtn, 7D, Little Mermaid, Small World, HM, Big Thunder, POTC, and Jungle Cruise. Got all these rides done and still was able to take an hour for a reservation at BOG.

4) Saw an elderly woman take a seriously nasty fall getting off of HM, she lost her balance getting off the ride on the moving walkway and went down hard, smacked her head off the ground and was motionless on the ground. Very scary situation, saw medics coming over as we left.

5) Lots of food stands and stores closed at MK, kinda sad to see.

6) I’m fully aware 4/20 is tomorrow...but on 2 different occasions we smelled marijuana in MK today, once at the relaxation station in Frontierland (young couple in mid 20s) and the other time back by the bathrooms near Space Mtn, didn’t see who was smoking it here. First time I’ve ever encountered this in the parks.

 

[Catvondita]

I'd like to hopefully give you a sense of ease a little bit with the airports. We just flew through Atlanta, Key West and Fort Lauderdale airports about two weeks ago and mask compliance was at about 99%. I was surprised. We found both Delta and United Airlines to be great with cleaning and measures to reduce exposure. This was my first time flying since covid and I was really nervous about it but I felt safe the entire time.

Thanks so much! Were flying Delta to so that makes me happy to hear

 

[PirateSnowmen]

So are the CMs just not being honest or not communicating with the operating crew or what?

The same thing happened to us today. As we were walking through at 10:18, they were telling everyone the ride would not start till around 11. I decided to leave my daughter in line and run to the restroom since it would be a longer wait than anticipated. It wasn’t a minute or 2 later she texted me that they were already loading the ride and I ended up missing it.

Yeah, I don't know what's up with that. I guess they're trying to balance expectations so they have some leeway, but that doesn't always work out well for the guests. Sorry you missed riding with your family!

They aren't being honest. I'm not sure why they're trained to mislead, but it happens constantly and is one of my biggest pet peeves about Disney...you can't trust what comes out of their mouth.

I'm sure it has to do with limiting disappointment etc. but man it's frustrating.

Sorry you missed riding with your family! As a former attractions CM (at Soarin, actually), hopefully I can shed some light as to why this happens. The CM opening the ride has a long checklist that they need to do before the ride can open. If any little thing is wrong on that checklist, the ride can't open. Since the park is technically open at 11, that's what the other CM's will tell people when asked when the ride is opening. The CM's up at the front (at the standby entrance) have no idea what is going on with the ride. Unless it's an outdoor ride, they can't even see if the ride is operating. Even if the ride is operating, they don't know if something is wrong. Once the CM opening the ride finishes his/her checklist and everything is good to go, the ride can officially open, and that's when the standby CM's are alerted to open the line.

For the most part it's not that the CM's up at the front are being dishonest, it's that they genuinely don't know when the ride will be opening. There are so many things that can go wrong when opening up a ride. Imagine CM's telling people, "oh yeah, the ride will be open in 5 minutes!" then something going wrong & the ride not opening. It's probably just safest to say the ride will be open when the park officially opens.

 

[eileen2664]

Interesting.....it’s 8:05 and I’m waiting for our breakfast table so I checked today’s park availability....yesterday all that was available was Epcot. Right now the only thing NOT available is MK. Could be weather related again (expecting rain this morning) could be a fluke or could be a regular occurrence.

 

[Geomom]

Forgot to mention, saw them testing the people mover yesterday.... empty cars going around. I wish it would have a soft open this week sometime vs the 5/1 date. Definitely miss that ride!

 

[lorileahb]

Forgot to mention, saw them testing the people mover yesterday.... empty cars going around. I wish it would have a soft open this week sometime vs the 5/1 date. Definitely miss that ride!

same here! I keep hoping for a little Disney magic this coming week.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Interesting.....it’s 8:05 and I’m waiting for our breakfast table so I checked today’s park availability....yesterday all that was available was Epcot. Right now the only thing NOT available is MK. Could be weather related again (expecting rain this morning) could be a fluke or could be a regular occurrence.

I'm guessing this is a daily occurrence when people's plans change at the last minute due to a variety of reasons. It's a good reminder for those looking for park reservations to keep trying right up until the last moment and hopefully they will be able to find a park reservation!