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

[blistex]

Thank you for this reply, and everyone else, it is helpful! I am, I confess, still pretty torn about it. It's partly a comfort thing and partly just wondering if the vibe is really going to be conducive to relaxing and enjoying ourselves on vacation if we and many around us are on high alert all the time. Adults have gotten the vaccine but of course the kids (5 and 7) have not so there is still some level of risk. I suspect I could enjoy myself just fine. Husband is another matter, if it was Christmas-like crowds for sure, I'd just cancel because he'd bug out at that level. But if there is sufficient space to be had, I think our family would have a perfectly lovely vacation just hopping around various outdoor festival booths at Epcot, riding the Skyliner, taking in the little beach area by Beach/Yacht Club, and otherwise just going on rides that feel comfortable line-or-environment-wise, since we do go every year. It's just so hard to 1)gauge the real crowd level from photos and 2)of course, guess what the crowd level will end up being on the actual days we're there. Thanks for letting me do some hand-wringing about this here and get some real-life experience feedback, because in my regular life everyone is equally divided between "you're crazy to even consider it" and "of course you should go and not worry at all" and we fall pretty solidly in the middle.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

We are here now. Drove down instead of flying to mitigate some risk. Today was a Disney Springs day for us. We check into BLT tomorrow and headed to MK. I’ve been back and forth about this trip for the last month.
History: we were supposed to come in August and stay in a 2BR with my sisters family and my parents were going to stay at GF. GF wasn’t open so we all bumped the trip to January figuring it would have to be better by then (who knew). My parents cancelled due to being older and a higher risk, but sister and I decided to go as we have points expiring in May. Switched from a 2BR to 2 studios to distance a little since we are from different states.

Disney Springs wasn’t too bad. Only store we went in with a line was LEGO store and that was just a couple people with less than a 5 min wait.
Mask compliance has been better than expected - even on the drive down. So far I have not felt at any more risk than I would at our home area. Hopefully it stays that way.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thank you for this reply, and everyone else, it is helpful! I am, I confess, still pretty torn about it. It's partly a comfort thing and partly just wondering if the vibe is really going to be conducive to relaxing and enjoying ourselves on vacation if we and many around us are on high alert all the time. Adults have gotten the vaccine but of course the kids (5 and 7) have not so there is still some level of risk. I suspect I could enjoy myself just fine. Husband is another matter, if it was Christmas-like crowds for sure, I'd just cancel because he'd bug out at that level. But if there is sufficient space to be had, I think our family would have a perfectly lovely vacation just hopping around various outdoor festival booths at Epcot, riding the Skyliner, taking in the little beach area by Beach/Yacht Club, and otherwise just going on rides that feel comfortable line-or-environment-wise, since we do go every year. It's just so hard to 1)gauge the real crowd level from photos and 2)of course, guess what the crowd level will end up being on the actual days we're there. Thanks for letting me do some hand-wringing about this here and get some real-life experience feedback, because in my regular life everyone is equally divided between "you're crazy to even consider it" and "of course you should go and not worry at all" and we fall pretty solidly in the middle.

If you are concerned about feeling comfortable at Disney, you may wish to try some things around home to judge your reactions.

If you’d asked me a week ago if I’d feel comfortable at Disney I’d have said yes! Then, we went to a local ice cream parlour and while in line a family came in and everyone began wandering to look at different things in the small store we were in. I found myself aware of where each of them were and moving trying to keep away from them. All were masked and nobody did anything ‘wrong’ it was just a lightbulb moment for me that I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was.

Another way you might wish to test your preparedness it travel by local transit for a day. Are you comfortable being around others in a situation where you cannot ‘leave’ if you suddenly feel uncomfortable?

I’m not saying that Disney isn’t doing a great job and I am so happy for those who are able to go! For me, I just realized I’m not quite there yet and I’m glad I found out now, rather than when I was planning a Disney trip in the near future..

 

[Lizgistix]

01/15/21 - I started my day at Magic Kingdom. I got there late, around 11-ish and the crowds were CRAZY. So many people. I rode Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder. Played one round/villain of Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom (fun!). Had lunch at Skipper Canteen, and then I left. The park was too crowded for my liking. I think I got back to Wilderness Lodge around 3p-ish. Around 3:45p I headed to Animal Kingdom.

Yes I know they close at 5.
I got there right around 4.

I picked up the Wilderness Explorers Handbook for a future visit. I rode Expedition Everest and Navi River Journey. Did a little bit of shopping and then headed back to the Lodge for dinner at Geyser Point only to find out they too were busy and quoted me a 50 minute wait.

I usually do a Monday-Thursday trip but this time because of work I had to reschedule it to Wednesday-Saturday and blah. I'll stick with my early week trips, thanks.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

01/15/21 - I started my day at Magic Kingdom. I got there late, around 11-ish and the crowds were CRAZY. So many people. I rode Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder. Played one round/villain of Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom (fun!). Had lunch at Skipper Canteen, and then I left. The park was too crowded for my liking. I think I got back to Wilderness Lodge around 3p-ish. Around 3:45p I headed to Animal Kingdom.

Yes I know they close at 5.
I got there right around 4.

I picked up the Wilderness Explorers Handbook for a future visit. I rode Expedition Everest and Navi River Journey. Did a little bit of shopping and then headed back to the Lodge for dinner at Geyser Point only to find out they too were busy and quoted me a 50 minute wait.

I usually do a Monday-Thursday trip but this time because of work I had to reschedule it to Wednesday-Saturday and blah. I'll stick with my early week trips, thanks.

MLK Jr weekend to boot unfortunately...

 

[Mzpalmtree]

headed back to the Lodge for dinner at Geyser Point only to find out they too were busy and quoted me a 50 minute wait.

I wonder how long the wait is usually during the weekday evenings? We were there on Dec 30 which was a week day but during a holiday week and walked from GF to MK and took the boat to WL from there and were told the wait was well over an hour. It was frustrating to not know that before we played planes, trains, and automobiles to get there. There were also many people waiting outside of Roaring Fork which had me puzzled over how a resort that is half closed with three dining places could be so crowded.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Can someone please point me to up-to-date touring strategies particularly for rope drop?
Most DHS advice is pre 7am boarding group change. Advice from easyWDW still mentions FP+ and the paid touringplans service seems to be way off base.
I've been trying to pull together when to wait for transportation (1hr and 15min prior to park opening for bus?) We actually changed hotel plans a couple days ago so we could optimize walking to DHS and MK more often from our hotels (hopping.)
Please show me as much current advice as possible. We leave in 6 days and I've never felt so unprepared!

 

[yulilin3]

Can someone please point me to up-to-date touring strategies particularly for rope drop?
Most DHS advice is pre 7am boarding group change. Advice from easyWDW still mentions FP+ and the paid touringplans service seems to be way off base.
I've been trying to pull together when to wait for transportation (1hr and 15min prior to park opening for bus?) We actually changed hotel plans a couple days ago so we could optimize walking to DHS and MK more often from our hotels (hopping.)
Please show me as much current advice as possible. We leave in 6 days and I've never felt so unprepared!

Merged you . Read back a couple of pages four just back reports

 

[scrappinginontario]

Can someone please point me to up-to-date touring strategies particularly for rope drop?
Most DHS advice is pre 7am boarding group change. Advice from easyWDW still mentions FP+ and the paid touringplans service seems to be way off base.
I've been trying to pull together when to wait for transportation (1hr and 15min prior to park opening for bus?) We actually changed hotel plans a couple days ago so we could optimize walking to DHS and MK more often from our hotels (hopping.)
Please show me as much current advice as possible. We leave in 6 days and I've never felt so unprepared!

current recommendations for rope drop seem to be arrive at transportation at your resort 90 mins before official opening time. Transportation won’t be running yet but will secure your place in line. Trans seems to start 60-45 mins before official opening time and park will probably be open when you arrive with a few rides running. No guarantee though and which rides open may vary.

There are no hard and fast rules right now, flexibility is key.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

current recommendations for rope drop seem to be arrive at transportation at your resort 90 mins before official opening time. Transportation won’t be running yet but will secure your place in line. Trans seems to start 60-45 mins before official opening time and park will probably be open when you arrive with a few rides running. No guarantee though and which rides open may vary.

There are no hard and fast rules right now, flexibility is key.

Thank you!

With transportation starting late, is there a way we can get from Riviera Resort to Boardwalk for an 8:55 breakfast? Will Skyliner go toward Epcot that early? There are 7 of us, so it would mean 2 car services if not.

 

[NashvilleMama]

current recommendations for rope drop seem to be arrive at transportation at your resort 90 mins before official opening time. Transportation won’t be running yet but will secure your place in line. Trans seems to start 60-45 mins before official opening time and park will probably be open when you arrive with a few rides running.

Does this include the Skyliner? If DHS opens at 9am, has the Skyliner been opening around 7:30 or have there been reports that we should be there earlier than that (coming from POP)? I haven't seen any super recent ones that I can find and don't want to prod the 10 year old out of bed any earlier than probably necessary but know it's also just not super predictable at this point.

 

[PCFriar80]

Does this include the Skyliner? If DHS opens at 9am, has the Skyliner been opening around 7:30 or have there been reports that we should be there earlier than that (coming from POP)? I haven't seen any super recent ones that I can find and don't want to prod the 10 year old out of bed any earlier than probably necessary but know it's also just not super predictable at this point.

The Skyliner began at 8:00 AM from IG for a 9:00 HS opening when we were there last week. I assume the same is true for POP.

 

[MomOTwins]

Thank you!

With transportation starting late, is there a way we can get from Riviera Resort to Boardwalk for an 8:55 breakfast? Will Skyliner go toward Epcot that early? There are 7 of us, so it would mean 2 car services if not.

On a day when HS opens 9am or earlier, you might be able to take skyliner to HS and then friendship boats or walk to boardwalk. On a 10am open for HS, no.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Does this include the Skyliner? If DHS opens at 9am, has the Skyliner been opening around 7:30 or have there been reports that we should be there earlier than that (coming from POP)? I haven't seen any super recent ones that I can find and don't want to prod the 10 year old out of bed any earlier than probably necessary but know it's also just not super predictable at this point.

My response recommends arriving at transportation 90 mins before park opening but that transportation will NOT be running at that time. It won't start until 45-60 mins before park opening but if you wait and arrive when the transportation opens you will probably be met with a substantial line of people who arrived and waited before the transportation started.

The Skyliner began at 8:00 AM from IG for a 9:00 HS opening when we were there last week. I assume the same is true for POP.

Yes.

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

I need some advice about park reservations. If our #1 priority is getting a boarding pass for ROTR, should I reserve us for HS every day of our trip until we (hopefully) get lucky and change as necessary? Or is that considered bad form? I don't want to be THAT person that clogs up the system for others. We are going Sat Feb 27 through Wed Mar 3 and I feel like crowds won't be awful since we are between President's Week and "normal" spring break time. I am betting HS will be the most likely to not have availability if I wait until closer to that time to make changes. Anyone have any thoughts or advice?

 

[PCFriar80]

I need some advice about park reservations. If our #1 priority is getting a boarding pass for ROTR, should I reserve us for HS every day of our trip until we (hopefully) get lucky and change as necessary? Or is that considered bad form? I don't want to be THAT person that clogs up the system for others. We are going Sat Feb 27 through Wed Mar 3 and I feel like crowds won't be awful since we are between President's Week and "normal" spring break time. I am betting HS will be the most likely to not have availability if I wait until closer to that time to make changes. Anyone have any thoughts or advice?

I don't consider that bad form, I view it as a strategy! We did this for the most part during our December trip and it worked fine for us. If we didn't get a BG I would simply cancel HS and pick another park. Simply cancel your current day plans and reserve another park. The only risk you run is if the "new" park is at capacity but this is rare and especially not likely during the timeframe you are going. Good luck!

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Saw some reports that crowds were back up again. Is this just a temporary MLK weekend thing?
We arrive 2 weeks from today for the 1st week of February and were really hoping things would be "relatively" empty, but I'm starting to get nervous again. Not going to do anything that makes us uncomfortable, but also don't want that to be 95% of the parks!

 

[EEPETEZ]

Interesting, the cast members we encountered only directed us to MO and didn’t offer up any alternatives. Either way, once we gained a little experience with the app and the process, it was smooth sailing.

1) Mobile order is super easy-Love it!
2) the cast members we encountered would help those that were having any issues.
Totally recommend mobile order!

 

[yulilin3]

Saw some reports that crowds were back up again. Is this just a temporary MLK weekend thing?
We arrive 2 weeks from today for the 1st week of February and were really hoping things would be "relatively" empty, but I'm starting to get nervous again. Not going to do anything that makes us uncomfortable, but also don't want that to be 95% of the parks!

Can you give an example of what makes you uncomfortable. "Crowded" is subjective so opinions will differ from person to person

 

[MinnieMSue]

Are they still doing the approx every 2 hour cleaning cycles? Got caught up in line for a few in September and some were pretty bad - looking at you Space mountain and Test Track!