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

[HashberryOTG]

I think I read someone say that there was a long line at Gaston's. Did you have to wait long? Has anyone else heard of long waits here or if a certain time of day is less busy than others? This cinnamon roll is our favorite thing to eat at MK and we are looking forward to it in November. Thank you

We were there mid/end of Sept. Line moves fast. We waited about 10-15 minutes. Don't expect to get a table. Everyplace to sit and eat nearby plus inside was full.

 

[PrincessV]

Not realistic, sorry. The only thing they are reducing indoor time on are the pre-shows, which are now skipped at (applies to TOT and MMRR), but we waited more than 15 mins indoors at all those queues--and you'll wait considerably more if you get stuck on a cleaning cycle. The indoor queues are being fully utilized.

You will definitely spend some time in indoor queues.

Thank you - this is helpful! I may still keep my DHS reservation: if all I do is enjoy a blue milk and people watch in Batuu, I'll call it good. But I wont' feel any compulsion to arrive early to budget for ride wait times!

 

[Tammy A]

Just wanted to write up a quick trip report as I visited MK for one day this past Saturday...

I was initially concerned about the crowds on a weekend, but honestly I didn't find it to be too bad. I think as many people have mentioned previously, it is VERY important to have a plan. I drove to the park and got to the toll booths at around 8:05. There was only a very small line of cars so I was parked and walking towards the transport center by 8:15. I immediately got on the monorail and was inside of MK by 8:30.

My plan revolved around hitting the rides that were most important to me. So I decided to head over to Splash Mountain first. As others have mentioned, it is up to the CMs to decide whether to operate the rides before official park opening. I happened to make a good decision going towards Frontierland because although Splash was not open yet, Big thunder was. So I hopped on that, and was off in about 10 minutes. This turned out to be a good strategy because for some reason, 7DMT was not running this morning which is where most people end up at opening. Then I waited maybe 10 more minutes and splash opened a few minutes before 9. So I hopped on that and was again off in about 10 minutes. Then I headed over to pirates which had no wait, so I was on and off that quickly as well. After that I decided since I was in Adventureland to just hit up Jungle Cruise. This was my first wait of the day, but it still wasn't too bad. I believe the posted wait was around 35 minutes and I waited 25. So just to give you an idea, by 10:30 I had already completed 4 of the bigger rides.

At this point the waits started getting a little longer, but again, nothing too crazy. My plans then brought me over to Haunted Mansion, which had a posted wait of 45 minutes, but I only waited about 30. Do not let the HM line fool you...it looks really long as the queue takes you through the boat dock, but it is constantly moving and never felt long. I then made my way over to Space mountain which I believe had a 40 minute posted wait and I was off in about 25 minutes (which was only due to getting caught in a cleaning cycle.) After this I decided to try and grab some food via mobile order before the lunch crowds came, which was a really good idea because it got very busy at Pecos Bill's after 12:30.

The afternoon definitely saw a higher amount of crowds, but again, it was still very manageable compared to previous visits. I hit Small world, Barnstormer, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion (again), Buzz, Tiki Room and Carousel of Progress by 6pm. Since I was only visiting for the one day, I skipped a few of the smaller kiddie rides but those mostly had no waits, so if you have kids, those could have been done as well. 7DMT had been up and down all day due to rain, so at 6 I decided to hop in line with a 60 minute wait. After about 15 minutes I jumped out of the line because I decided for a 30 second ride, that wait wasn't worth it and I'd rather spend my time shopping. So I spend the last hour in the emporium. Again, they control the amount of people let in here via line, so the crowd levels inside were very manageable, dare I even say enjoyable. I also saw all of the cavalcades as I was just walking around the park and I really enjoyed these. Some people would stop and watch but nothing like the old days of parades which I greatly appreciated. Overall, I had a wonderful time, and was happy to hit everything I wanted to.

A few take aways:
I felt very safe the entire day. With the exception of people eating/drinking and a few younger kids, I'd say 95% of people were wearing their masks correctly. Also because it rained on and off most of the day, I didn't hate wearing the mask as much as I was expecting to. In the hot sun however, it would have been tough.

Wait times in lines are definitely inflated. In my experience the posted waits were roughly about 15 minutes longer than actual wait time.

My food goals were to eat some of the halloween exclusives. I tried the Hades nachos and the Constance wedding cake. Skip the nachos...they weren't bad, but there are far better choices (and they weren't spicy at all!). The wedding cake was delicious! Cake was moist, and the flavors were on point. The white gelee coating was a bit odd texturally, but overall I really loved this!

Everyone followed social distancing pretty well. I did have one issue in the Buzz line where some younger kids kept bumping into me and trying to pass me which was a bit annoying. I don't blame the children, but the parents should have been more diligent in teaching their kids to wait (just my opinion...they had 9 kids so I imagine that would be tough lol). Otherwise, everything was handled very well. There are sanitizer stations everywhere and I saw a lot of people using them.

I really couldn't believe how many families there were. Although I had a great time as a single adult, I could never imagine bringing my two younger toddlers during this time. So my advice is to weigh the risk vs. reward. Remember that things are different and the experience will be what you make of it. My opinion is that with the lines, masks and certain things closed, I would NOT bring my family now especially with how expensive a ticket is, but that is something that has to be decided by each individual family. If you do go, make a plan, try to stick to it, and you will be fine!

I really enjoyed your post; very helpful. Thank you!

 

[hereforthechurros]

For those that have been to Epcot recently is there regularly a queue on weekends to enter the pyramid in Mexico? If there a separate entrance if you have an ADR?

 

[Lizzards]

Hi, sorry about the delayed reply, we were (yet again) out of town from Fri thru today (for a wedding)! So, to get to MK & AK, your choices are the bus or a cab/uber etc. We opted for the bus for both as we really weren't in a huge hurry to rope-drop either park (though, we did end up getting to MK early & rode a few rides before park opening--AK we got there after right around/just after park opening). Interestingly the bus line for AK was longer/had more ppl in it both mornings we were there @ the stop. But the buses came w/in 10 mins for both MK & AK and we were able to get on the first bus so no probs. Took buses back @ night, too. Can feel like a long walk at night from the back of the park to the bus terminals when you're hot & exhausted, so be prepared! Though again, even when it felt like there were a lot of ppl in the PM bus lines, we didn't wait long & got on the first buses that came. So not horrible. We took the Skyliner to Epcot painlessly (but had to bus back to Riv as there was a thunder/lightening/rain storm @ night). HS: after an insane amount of research on uber/car rental/bus/Skyliner etc to get there for the whole BG issue, we decided to walk to CBR from Riv. Mistake. The line from CBR to get on the Skyliner was like 10 times longer than the line for the ppl getting off the Skyliner line from Riv & waiting (in a separate line) @ CBR. We hoofed it from the Riv to CBR early (and were already totally hot & sweating) and then were stuck in the CBR line while we watched groups of ppl sailing in from Riv to CBR and then proceeding right up to the front of that line & onto the Skyliner. So next time, we plan to be the first ppl in line @ the Riv Skyliner line to get to HS faster. This did impact our day as we were on MMRR @ 10am to get our BG for ROTR--we're convinced that had we been in the first group/s on the Riv Skyliner line, we'd have arrived @ HS like 15 mis earlier & been OFF MMRR before 10 (and not waited so long for other rides like Slinky, ToT, RRC, etc)! Hope this helps!!!

This is all super helpful!! Thank you for your reply

 

[Lizzards]

I'm a Disneyland park goer switching over to WDW for the holidays (since we have no reopening date in sight..) and I was wondering if anyone could help answer a few questions for me about their recent park experiences!

I've been lurking for a few days and I'm reading that weekends tend to be more busier. Is that true for all four parks or the more popular ones like Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom? I think I can finagle things to make our park days only weekdays for the most part but we might have one weekend day too.

Art of Animation vs. Caribbean Resort- which has a better atmosphere to spend your evenings in? I think we're going to avoid Disney Springs and just stick to the parks so trying to pick which resort we should go with. My son is 10 so he'd love the cartoon themes but I prefer the look of the Caribbean Resort... What do you think? Do the resorts feel really crowded in the evenings right now? Does it really matter? We'd save more money staying at the Art of Animation that I could easily turn into an extra park day..

Does anyone have a good resource for park strategies right now? I've been following along on this thread but it sounds like we're all just winging it- does that sound about right? But like, what rides do you head towards first? I'm so used to operating on a rope drop strategy I'm having a hard time letting go of that lol!

Any other tips you want to give me? Thanks everyone!

I am a Disneyland Park goer switching over to WDW for the Thanksgiving holiday week!!!! I hope you have a magical time. I miss Disneyland sooooo much and am beyond excited to go to WDW.

 

[Jaina]

I am a Disneyland Park goer switching over to WDW for the Thanksgiving holiday week!!!! I hope you have a magical time. I miss Disneyland sooooo much and am beyond excited to go to WDW.

Me too. I'm so tired of wondering when my Disneyland AP is finally going to be useful and so tired of riding the "corona coaster" while we wait for CA's governor to decide he'll allow it. I'm going to WDW in 2.5 weeks, and I'm super excited, even if it is hot and the lines are long... I just needed a little magic to look forward to in my life!

 

[HashberryOTG]

For those that have been to Epcot recently is there regularly a queue on weekends to enter the pyramid in Mexico? If there a separate entrance if you have an ADR?

One of the days we were there it had a 60+ minute queue to get into the pyramid. I don't know about the ADR part tho. I hope so!

 

[KellyKane]

For those that have been to Epcot recently is there regularly a queue on weekends to enter the pyramid in Mexico? If there a separate entrance if you have an ADR?

Yes. We were there on a Sunday in late September. The line to get into the pyramid was all the way back to Norway. There is a cast member that directs the end of the line that sent us up to another cast member right at the walkway to the side entrance..if that makes sense. Once inside, there was a third cast member verifying that we had a lunch reservation.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Woops wrong thread

 

[wendypooh22]

Me too. I'm so tired of wondering when my Disneyland AP is finally going to be useful and so tired of riding the "corona coaster" while we wait for CA's governor to decide he'll allow it. I'm going to WDW in 2.5 weeks, and I'm super excited, even if it is hot and the lines are long... I just needed a little magic to look forward to in my life!

I am a DL AP holder as well and waiting for CA to open up is soo frustrating! I will be leaving for WDW on Monday. I cannot wait to be in a Disney park!!

 

[jrsharp21]

I lived in California for almost all of my life and was a DL AP holder for many years. Moved to Texas about 7 years ago and became a WDW regular and one time AP. For you DL'ers, you will not be disappointed. There is a whole different feel to the resort, especially if you are staying on property. No having to walk across the street to Harbor and be bombarded with flying whirly birds for sale or people trying to get you to come to Captain Kidd's to eat. You are immersed in your own Disney bubble. It's a great experience. I hope everyone enjoys WDW as much as they do DL.

 

[ellbell]

Nothing much to report today. As I stated yesterday we were having a lazy day today. We slept in and headed to the bus for Disney Springs at about 9:50. We got to DS at about 10:17. It was early so not a whole lot of people. Some stores weren't open until 11. We were able to be socially distanced and most people were mask compliant. I've heard that it gets crowded their later in the day but morning and early afternoon were very pleasant.

We got back to Pop around 2. It was very quiet and we relaxed for the rest of the day. Room checks are still being done. We had a knock on the door around 3 when I was napping. She asked if she could do a room check amd informed us we couldn't be in the room while she did it. I said I was napping and she asked when a good time to come back would be.

Other than that the day was uneventful and very relaxing. Tomorrow is Hollywood Studios.

 

[Biggen]

For those that have been to Epcot recently is there regularly a queue on weekends to enter the pyramid in Mexico? If there a separate entrance if you have an ADR?

We were just there last weekend. The was no line outside. A very small line was inside and you didn't have to have reservations to enter.

 

[HelloTheDrakes]

Went to MK today: 10/7/20

Staying at Pop- At bus by 7:25, first bus at 7:59, us on bus at 8:21

Ate lunch at Pecos Bills, delicious and half of the tables were marked for distancing. Today was pretty hot, so I’d say mask compliance was more like 90%. Lots of noses ans people pulling them down during our long outdoor wait for HM.

Dinner was at Skipper Canteen. Delicious as always and very spaced out. We also had the raspberry swirl dole whip around 2 which was amazing and much needed.

My ridiculous time chart is listed below. We started calling this my Disney Data and my husband and friends have even started helping me keep track of it throughout the day! Hope it helps!

Ride	Listed Time	Time Entered	Time on Ride
Space	5 min	8:48	8:52
Thunder	5 min	9:08	9:13
Splash	5 mins	9:18	9:25
Haunted Mansion	10	10:06	10:21
7DMT	45 - jumped to 55	10:26	11:16
Peter Pan	20	11:25	11:52
Buzz	20	12:55	1:05
Carousel	5	1:11	1:14
Mermaid	20	1:40	1:58
Pirates	40	2:36	3:04
HAunted Mansion	40	3:25	4:00
Peter Pan	20	5:32	5:36
Small World	20	We split -5:40	5:47
Space Mountain	40	We split- 5:54	6:15

 

[hereforthechurros]

Yes. We were there on a Sunday in late September. The line to get into the pyramid was all the way back to Norway. There is a cast member that directs the end of the line that sent us up to another cast member right at the walkway to the side entrance..if that makes sense. Once inside, there was a third cast member verifying that we had a lunch reservation.

Great info thank you!

 

[soniam]

We were there Monday. Breakfast at Trattoria at 7:30, started walking to DHS at 8:15, arrived by 8:30 and we were probably 30-40 back in line. We got in the left line, went to the left tents and that is where the head lady was who gave the go ahead to move through temp check. That was key to us getting through first.

This was for a 10am opening, right? Were the buses or Skyliner running? If not, I presume this is just people walking from the Epcot resorts.

 

[MomOTwins]

Anyone has experience post-covid with changing party reservations for dining? Hubby did our dining when it opened 60 days out and I just realized he forgot to add our kids for our BOG and Sci Fi Reservations (+2). I know all we can do is ask when we get there aside from checking the app like crazy. Just wondering if anyone has had to do this post-covid yet.

Be our guest may be tricky (I’ve been stalking app since we booked well after 60 day mark) and have not seen any BOG openings, so if they don’t have the right table size available it could be a challenge. Sci fi should be no problem because they are not sharing cars between parties so I can see why they would object so long as your total party size is 6 or less.

 

[Pens Fan]

We were there this past Friday and Sunday. We hit Mexico Friday night around 7 or so. There was no line to actually enter the pyramid. Once inside the main entrance a CM was asking if you wanted to wait for Cava de Tequila or just enter the pavillion. If you didn't want to wait for Cava (the line stretched to the top of the ramp that goes down into the pavillion) you could walk straight on in which is what we did.

We walked by Mexico on Sunday around 2 PM and the line to even get inside was outside of the pyramid and down the steps. So I guess it just depends.

 

[Shinrai]

Me too. I'm so tired of wondering when my Disneyland AP is finally going to be useful and so tired of riding the "corona coaster" while we wait for CA's governor to decide he'll allow it. I'm going to WDW in 2.5 weeks, and I'm super excited, even if it is hot and the lines are long... I just needed a little magic to look forward to in my life!

Same. We leave in 2 weeks 2 days!