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

[Lsdolphin]

Posting this as a word of caution to others!!!! I have had 4 days of “park hopper Non-Expiration” tickets saved on MDE for years and have never used them since I had begun getting annual passes. I went to the Guest Services in DS on Thursday afternoon to buy a Boo Bash ticket and to activate my renewed AP. Last night I was checking “My Plans” and I saw that 3 of those “Non—Expiration “ days have disappeared!!! I’m going back to guest services today as I’m assuming they did not put my tickets in proper order and that when I went to parks last 3 days my non-expiration tickets were used instead of my AP. I’m betting they will tell me “tough luck! It’s really upsetting since I made a point of asking CM to prioritize my tickets.

 

[SkyGuy]

Posting this as a word of caution to others!!!! I have had 4 days of “park hopper Non-Expiration” tickets saved on MDE for years and have never used them since I had begun getting annual passes. I went to the Guest Services in DS on Thursday afternoon to buy a Boo Bash ticket and to activate my renewed AP. Last night I was checking “My Plans” and I saw that 3 of those “Non—Expiration “ days have disappeared!!! I’m going back to guest services today as I’m assuming they did not put my tickets in proper order and that when I went to parks last 3 days my non-expiration tickets were used instead of my AP. I’m betting they will tell me “tough luck! It’s really upsetting since I made a point of asking CM to prioritize my tickets.

This happened to me in May when they hit an old unused park hopper of mine instead of my AP. My son, who was with me, also had a park hopper on file, yet his was untouched. I was basically told, sorry, you’ll still get credit for the remaining balance of the ticket when you renew your AP, even though this was entirely Disney IT’s fault. Those tickets had been on my account through four previous trips with no issues. To make it even better, since the ticket was now considered used, I was not allowed to renew my AP online or over the phone. The CM at the IG put a note on my account explaining the situation, and I had to do it in person. I hope you have better luck.

 

[Lsdolphin]

This happened to me in May when they hit an old unused park hopper of mine instead of my AP. My son, who was with me, also had a park hopper on file, yet his was untouched. I was basically told, sorry, you’ll still get credit for the remaining balance of the ticket when you renew your AP, even though this was entirely Disney IT’s fault. Those tickets had been on my account through four previous trips with no issues. To make it even better, since the ticket was now considered used, I was not allowed to renew my AP online or over the phone. The CM at the IG put a note on my account explaining the situation, and I had to do it in person. I hope you have better luck.

Thanks. I’m going over to guest services in DS first thing this morning

 

[kboo]

Posting this as a word of caution to others!!!! I have had 4 days of “park hopper Non-Expiration” tickets saved on MDE for years and have never used them since I had begun getting annual passes. I went to the Guest Services in DS on Thursday afternoon to buy a Boo Bash ticket and to activate my renewed AP. Last night I was checking “My Plans” and I saw that 3 of those “Non—Expiration “ days have disappeared!!! I’m going back to guest services today as I’m assuming they did not put my tickets in proper order and that when I went to parks last 3 days my non-expiration tickets were used instead of my AP. I’m betting they will tell me “tough luck! It’s really upsetting since I made a point of asking CM to prioritize my tickets.

This happened to me in May when they hit an old unused park hopper of mine instead of my AP. My son, who was with me, also had a park hopper on file, yet his was untouched. I was basically told, sorry, you’ll still get credit for the remaining balance of the ticket when you renew your AP, even though this was entirely Disney IT’s fault. Those tickets had been on my account through four previous trips with no issues. To make it even better, since the ticket was now considered used, I was not allowed to renew my AP online or over the phone. The CM at the IG put a note on my account explaining the situation, and I had to do it in person. I hope you have better luck.

I had something similar happen with our first APs in the pandemic. We had a huge snafu (one child's AP didn't get the refund + able to get a new one), and we had a child 5-day non-expiring ticket as well. After hours on the phone before our trip in Dec. 2020, we all had APs but despite activating everyone's AP, when the kid scanned, I saw on MDE it used her 5-day ticket. ARGH!!!! More hours at Guest relations getting it straightened out. They put the 5-day ticket back on, but now it has an expiration date.

First a couple things that i didnt like.........my wife. LOL. Its impossible to get her committed to a plan without letting her fall on her face a couple times. We agree to wake up a little later to let the rope drop crew pass and take advantage of shorter lines later in the day, yet im woken up at 7am to a fully dressed wife ready to leave for the parks. We got to MK on our first park day at 9:15 and she immediately wants to hit every photopass spot she sees, and in my mind im thinking "I know i didnt get up early to get to the parks just to stand in long photopass lines while the queues fill up for the popular rides".

I think your wife and my husband are related, except he'll never be up at 7am except for ROTR BGs (which I guess are a thing of the past? must read...) He also wants to do photopass first thing. Either that or ... we are all fast-walking for 7dmt and he decides he needs to go to the bathroom. Again.

I will say that it seems that more people were booking mid-September hoping everyone else would push their trip into October for the 50th, leaving late August to actually be the absolute best time to go.

I'm one of the late-August crew and despite delta-anxiety leading up to the trip (which turned out fine once we got there), I had to remind the kids to remember this trip because we would never see lines like that again. Mid-morning back-to-back rides on FOP were probably the highlight.

 

[GoofEeyore26]

Hi folks, got back a few days ago - meant to post sooner but got sidetracked. Trip was me, my wife and an almost 3 yr old, We were on the fence due to Covid, but ultimately decide to take the trip as we rented points and couldn't get them back so we'd be out a big chunk of money. We stayed at the Poly for 9 days and ultimately I'm really, really happy we went. Crowds were fantastic compared to past trips (May 2021, Jan 2020 being the most recent). We rented a car with Avis - highly recommend Avis with all your details entered in the account before so you can just walk to the car and go. Some rental lines were crazy so that helped, and also the MDE line was nearly an hour long at 11 on a Saturday. We've rented a stroller the past few trips and the company we use has a pick up right near MDE which is very helpful.

For safety precautions - we generally avoided disney transport (hence the car rental) - only took monorail 3 times mid-day so either no one was in our car or 2 other parties, and took the boat once. We didn't do any indoor dining and avoided big indoor crowds - biggest crowd/line was philharmagic b/c we just missed a show. Mask compliance was 90%/95% indoors and 30% outdoors in crowds. People have generally given up on social distance/personal space.

Won't go through every day, but some key takeaways i hope someone finds helpful

• Mobile ordering for quick service has gotten much better. We didn't need to order hours before - usually wait was either immediate or the window was 10/15 min later. Once the "here now" was clicked usually food was ready ~10min later.
• Did take out from Kona, Sanaa, Trattoria al Forno, and Ale & Compass. I hope this never goes away. With not wanting to eat indoors and also having a 3yr old crapshoot on his temperament, this was ideal. For Kona we ate by the pool at the Poly; for Sanaa and Ale & Compass we went back to the room; for Trattoria al Forno we at the outside tables at Abracadabar (it was fairly early and we got drinks and left a good tip. Server didn't mind since it was slow - we asked). We didn't have issues getting into any of the resorts to pick up our food (drove for all except Kona) - though i know others have gotten stopped by guards at the gate so mileage may vary.
• Posted wait times were about right in the mornings but as the day went on the posted wait was very overestimated
• Watched the fireworks from the poly beach twice - so much more relaxed than dealing with the MK crowds
• Remy ride was fantastic - would rank it between RotR and Railway for trackless rides.
• Park wasn't as dirty as I've heard people complain about - actually felt cleaner than before
• CMs were all awesome
• Creations shop is great. Love the open, clean feel. The Epoct merch is awesome, and it didn't smell like a diaper.
• MCO was busy on the way home but we have TSA pre so it was pretty easy.
• Splash pads are godsend for toddlers!

All in all had an awesome time! Everyone tested negative on return - so got out in 1 piece! Any questions, let me know.

 

[gottalovepluto]

HM, 7DMT, Pooh all down right now… maybe they’re taking a lunch break?

 

[Pbogtret]

First this is our experiences and opinions…. Everyone will have different ones.

PART ONE

Got here Friday the 24th, staying at Coronado. The weekend was quite crowded ….. and today is crowded as well. Not what we are used to as we usually go the following week after Labor Day…. Around the 12th. That being said, we knew the weekend would be busier, but hoped Monday would see a drop in people… we didn’t see it today.

we are at MK today and there is a good sized crowd. The rides keep going down. Mine Train, Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion and it is only noon! Honestly we haven’t seen that many go down in all our visits… and it isn’t just hiccups it’s to the point they cleared the queue lines.

Mask compliance is at 90% I would say. We have seen noses peeking out or people pulling their masks down on rides…. But it isn’t the majority.

Paddlefish was good and they have socially distanced their tables… yay!

Yak and Yeti was good as always, not the best on socially distancing.

Chef arts was honestly just ok, no social distancing at all.

Whispering Canyon was good no social distancing.

Bfast at Rix Sports Bar and Grill was good but expensive for what you got they did good on social distancing.

Tried to do walk up for Space 220…. Got in line to get a reservation, at the beginning of the day. Line was steady huge. When we finally got up to the front, only had return times of 8:30pm or later. No good for us.

majority of places have a very reduced menu and, in our opinion, some of the quality has gone down.

will continue on another post.

 

[Ricguz]

Hi folks, got back a few days ago - meant to post sooner but got sidetracked. Trip was me, my wife and an almost 3 yr old, We were on the fence due to Covid, but ultimately decide to take the trip as we rented points and couldn't get them back so we'd be out a big chunk of money. We stayed at the Poly for 9 days and ultimately I'm really, really happy we went. Crowds were fantastic compared to past trips (May 2021, Jan 2020 being the most recent). We rented a car with Avis - highly recommend Avis with all your details entered in the account before so you can just walk to the car and go. Some rental lines were crazy so that help, and also the MDE line was nearly an hour long at 11 on a Saturday. We've rented a stroller the past few trips and the company we use has a pick up right near MDE which is very helpful.

For safety precautions - we generally avoided disney transport (hence the car rental) - only took monorail 3 times mid-day so either no one is our car or 2 other parties, and boat once. We didn't do any indoor dining and avoided big indoor crowds - biggest crowd/line was philharmagic b/c we just missed a show. Mask compliance was 90%/95% indoors and 30% outdoors in crowds. People have generally given up on social distance/personal space.

Won't go through every day, but some key takeaways i hope someone finds helpful

• Mobile ordering for quick service has gotten much better. We didn't need to order hours before - usually wait was either immediate or the window was 10/15 min later. Once the "here now" was clicked usually food was ready ~10min later.
• Did take out from Kona, Sanaa, Trattoria al Forno, and Ale & Compass. I hope this never goes away. With not wanting to eat indoors and also having a 3yr old crapshoot on his temperament, this was ideal. For Kona we ate by the pool at the Poly; for Sanaa and Ale & Compass we went back to the room; for Trattoria al Forno we at the outside tables at Abracadabar (it was fairly early and we got drinks and left a good tip. Server didn't mind since it was slow - we asked). We didn't have issues getting into any of the resorts to pick up our food (drove for all except Kona) - though i know others have gotten stopped by guards at the gate so mileage may vary.
• Posted wait times were about right in the mornings but as the day went on the posted wait was very overestimated
• Watched the fireworks from the poly beach twice - so much more relaxed than dealing with the MK crowds
• Remy ride was fantastic - would rank it between RotR and Railway for trackless rides.
• Park wasn't as dirty as I've heard people complain about - actually felt cleaner than before
• CMs were all awesome
• Creations shop is great. Love the open, clean feel. The Epoct merch is awesome, and it didn't smell like a diaper.
• MCO was busy on the way home but we have TSA pre so it was pretty easy.
• Splash pads are godsend for toddlers!

All in all had an awesome time! Everyone tested negative on return - so got out in 1 piece! Any questions, let me know.

Thanks for the update. Heading down at the end of 2022 out of Logan, hopeful that the pandemic is over and Disney is 100 percent up and running. Good to know about mobile ordering and you had a good trip

 

[Lsdolphin]

Ok update to my earlier posts regarding the older “Non-Expiration Parker hopper tickets that disappeared from my MDE: I went to guest services in DS and explained that the tickets were apparently used although I have an AP. The CM was able to determine that was exactly what happened. He explained that Disney is currently still changing over to the new system and that this has happened to guests. He said if you notice a ticket missing from your MDE that guest services is able to track what parks you visit and what type of ticket is used. The CM replaced the 3 Tickets that were mistakenly used from my MDE.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Ok update to my earlier posts regarding the older “Non-Expiration Parker hopper tickets that disappeared from my MDE: I went to guest services in DS and explained that the tickets were apparently used although I have an AP. The CM was able to determine that was exactly what happened. He explained that Disney is currently still changing over to the new system and that this has happened to guests. He said if you notice a ticket missing from your MDE that guest services is able to track what parks you visit and what type of ticket is used. The CM replaced the 3 Tickets that were mistakenly used from my MDE.

SO glad they were able to help you!!

 

[Pbogtret]

PART 2

Just a little background on us, we are Disney fans and have been coming since 1989…. We also got married at Disney and had our wedding reception at Fulton’s (now called Paddlefish).

Now onto more of our experiences / observations / opinions

Don’t come with the idea you can socially distance in the parks, it’s impossible. If you do find a spot expect others to join that area shortly after you and with the crowds expected for the 50th it’s just not going to happen.

we wore our masks outside as much as the heat allowed us to. We saw others masked up outside but we were the few not the majority. We are fully vaccinated but at this point, with how many people are around and come in contact with, we would be very surprised if we don’t end up with Covid. I anticipate the risk will be even greater come later this week. We are due to leave on Oct 1st, we do not plan on being in any parks on Thursday or Friday.

we do rent a car every time we come and I am very thankful to have a “safe” place for a little bit of my park time

To get a little distance from people, we have booked Horse Back riding for Thursday…. Which we are very excited about.

I will post more about our trip and observations later in PART 3

 

[AndreaDM]

Water parks rarely get a mention here so I thought I’d share our experience at BB today. It was awesome! We got there at 11, thought we’d stay a few hours but ended up staying til they closed at 6. It was empty, at one point there were maybe a dozen other people in the wave pool with us. The only wait for water slides was the time it took to run back up the stairs. The helicopters were annoying but a very fun day! Cast members were great!

eta: I forgot my phone today and only had magic band, no problem ordering food and drinks. And it was actually nice not looking at my phone once in almost 8 hours!

eta again: I haven’t rode water slides in years, was not prepared for the waterboarding and wedgies!

 

[GoofEeyore26]

Thanks for the update. Heading down at the end of 2022 out of Logan, hopeful that the pandemic is over and Disney is 100 percent up and running. Good to know about mobile ordering and you had a good trip

I fly out of logan too. Jetblue?? If so get TSA pre if possible. So worth the money bc that Terminal C security is nuts.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Water parks rarely get a mention here so I thought I’d share our experience at BB today. It was awesome! We got there at 11, thought we’d stay a few hours but ended up staying til they closed at 6. It was empty, at one point there were maybe a dozen other people in the wave pool with us. The only wait for water slides was the time it took to run back up the stairs. The helicopters were annoying but a very fun day! Cast members were great!

Are the inner tubes in the wave pool yet? They’re my favourite.

 

[AndreaDM]

No they didn’t have them, this was our first trip to BB so I didn’t even know they ever had them. So guess we didn't know what we missed lol!

 

[scrappinginontario]

No they didn’t have them, this was our first trip to BB so I didn’t even know they ever had them. So guess we didn't know what we missed lol!

Thanks! Normally there are a lot of them and I bib around in the pool (similar to lazy River) while my daughter swims. I can hang like that fir ages!!

 

[jrsharp21]

• Remy ride was fantastic - would rank it between RotR and Railway for trackless rides.

How did you get on Remy? We were at Epcot this morning and they were turning people away left and right. Looks like it was CM previews today from what I heard them tell people.

 

[jrsharp21]

Finished up our last day today. Great day! Started off in Epcot. Hit Test Track and Frozen. Those were the only two rides we had on our list for today. The rest of the time at Epcot was for Food & Wine. Had a good time making our way through WS. My favorite out of everything, the wild cherry Hefeweizen. That was tasty!

We headed over to MK around 4:30pm. We were happy to find that it was not crowded at all and wait times were low for the most part. We did Speedway, Peoplemover, Space, Buzz, Pooh, Thunder Mountain, Splash x 2, and Jungle Cruise to end the night. Thunder Mountain and Splash were sending out empty cars and boats because no one was in line. At Splash, they let us stay on and ride because there was no one in line. We mobile ordered Cacey’s Corner at close. Hung out eating and chatting there until almost 10 to end the night. Great finish to a fun four days.

 

[scrappinginontario]

How did you get on Remy? We were at Epcot this morning and they were turning people away left and right. Looks like it was CM previews today from what I heard them tell people.

There were previews for APs for a few weeks. OP has been back a few days they said so most likely rose as part of that.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Weekends vs weekdays very noticeable at park opening at AK today. I arrived for the tail end of EE and FoP showed a 30 min wait- it was 5. Went back on around 8:30 (park opened at 8) wait showed 35 and it was 10. Huge difference from when I went on Sun and the FoP line at official park opening was over an hour and looked like it from the outside (it was much more crowded even on the inside when I went during EE on Sun). Crowds at AK also feel much lighter than they did here on Sun so that’s nice.

@jrsharp21 I’m regretting not returning to MK last night like I’d planned. I left around 2 as the crowds were way too much for me and opted not to return. Guess I wasn’t alone