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

[tsme]

Have the resorts started back offering room service yet?

 

[pascalspal]

Have the resorts started back offering room service yet?

Beach Club Villas had a limited room service offering when we were there this past weekend - Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I would assume other resorts are operating something similar

 

[Mzpalmtree]

Beach Club Villas had a limited room service offering when we were there this past weekend - Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I would assume other resorts are operating something similar

When we were there in Dec/Jan, only YC/BCV and GF/VGF had room service. It is presumed that the reason why those resorts are the only ones to have it is that they brought back the CM to support it for the NBA and elected to keep them on, but I am not 100% sure if that is in fact the reason.

 

[zeferjen]

When we were there in Dec/Jan, only YC/BCV and GF/VGF had room service. It is presumed that the reason why those resorts are the only ones to have it is that they brought back the CM to support it for the NBA and elected to keep them on, but I am not 100% sure if that is in fact the reason.

So no room service right now at Contemporary or BLT?

 

[Mzpalmtree]

So no room service right now at Contemporary or BLT?

There was not when we stayed at CR in Dec/Jan. We actually had a triple split at all of those resorts.

 

[Andrwh1]

Tuesday 2/2 – Hollywood Studios – COLD, COLD, COLD!!
Woke up to try for RotR at 7:00am but got shutout! Can’t believe we’re still playing the “will we, or won’t we” game for RotR over a year after it opened.
Drove our car over as soon as the lots opened, and we were the 2nd car in line. Breezed through temp checks and the turnstiles and went straight to Mickey & Minnie where we walked right on prior to official opening.

Thanks for such a wonderful summary! When you drove to HS, what time did you drive over and when did the gates open? We'll be there in a couple weeks staying at Caribbean Beach and trying to decide whether to use the Skyliner or drive to HS.

 

[Wosmama6]

Darn room service at jambo would be amazing but I assume not

 

[pascalspal]

Thanks for such a wonderful summary! When you drove to HS, what time did you drive over and when did the gates open? We'll be there in a couple weeks staying at Caribbean Beach and trying to decide whether to use the Skyliner or drive to HS.

When we did HS for rope drop, the skyliner was letting people off when the park had not opened yet. The gates to the park opened just before they opened the parking lot so everyone who walked/took the bus/skyliner early got into the park before the parking lot opened.

Seems like it changes every day though so it might just boil down to luck.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Darn room service at jambo would be amazing but I assume not

We stayed a week at Jambo recently and LOVED it but really struggled with the lack of food. Just come prepared.

We ate offsite a lot - thankfully, there is a ton of good options within 1-2 miles from the hotel.

Room service would have been AMAZING.

 

[Andrwh1]

When we did HS for rope drop, the skyliner was letting people off when the park had not opened yet. The gates to the park opened just before they opened the parking lot so everyone who walked/took the bus/skyliner early got into the park before the parking lot opened.

Seems like it changes every day though so it might just boil down to luck.

I think you're right - we'll just have to choose an option and hope we get lucky that day! Which is stressful to the planner in me!

 

[coolbrook]

Remember that many resort table service restaurants are offering food to-go as well. Its basically like mobile ordering on the app. You do have to get dressed and go to the restaurant and pick it up, so not the same as room service, but it's helpful when there are no reservation times available at the restaurant. The lounges also usually serve some food.

 

[Tennor]

With Door Dash and Grubhub, this shouldn't be an issue, right?

 

[VandVsmama]

Just back yesterday. Visited all 4 parks. 3rd Covid trip. AP from Kansas City. My brother got last minute tickets to the Super Bowl and brought me along to babysit his daughter while he and his wife went to the game. Stayed at Yacht Club. I have never taken a Disney trip with less than one day's notice before. What a wonderful surprise! It's about 9 degrees here in KC. Here are some of my thoughts from the trip:

• The "rules" sandwich board sign as I entered Pooh stated that if you have more than 4 people you should divide your group among two distancing stripes on the ground. That was the first time I had seen that statement and it is a good idea.
• Watching the cleaning cycle on Magic Carpets was pretty interesting and thorough. Spray, let sit, hand wipe every seatbelt and buckle, hand wipe spray off seats and buttons/levers. All hands on deck like a swarm. I was impressed.
• Test track was down, again, when we were at Epcot. We haven't ridden in at least two years! Ugh
• LOVE getting Rise BG from resort! Makes the morning so much more pleasant.
• We have found mask compliance at airport and on plane much better each trip we have made.
• Magical express (Don't leave, we need you!) was quick with enough room to space out. At least one row between groups.
• CM are still actively enforcing mask rules. Mostly for slipping down noses on little kids. I saw a CM who was manning the exit gate at MK in the morning jog over to a group in front of the flower planter to tell them to keep their masks on which they had removed for a photo.
• Remembered why I love Yacht Club so much.
• Stormalong Bay with its built in foot massage sandy bottom, deep lazy river with tubes to float on, and three hot tubs (with one being for 18 and up one day) is my favorite Disney pool.
• Ale and compass never disappoints. Did two breakfasts and a dinner there. Dinner wait time was a bit long so they recommended we sit in the lounge and the full menu was available. That worked out great and they had cartoons on the TV's so my 10 year old niece loved it.
• Yacht club is so convenient for folks who don't like to walk more than they have to. The walks to food, pool, boat, bus, gift shop, and lobby are all short.
• At AK we skipped the Gorilla Falls trail because there was a 15 minute wait just to get in there. They are doing some construction, so it makes the trail more congested.
• The petting animal area was open again, and I love having the animation drawing thing at Rafiki's planet watch.
• Now that we learned on these boards to order earlier than you actually want to eat to get a good pick up time, we actually like the mobile order and did it several times.
• We ate at Docking Bay 7 for the first time and I really liked it. The food seemed to be a step above usual quick service fare.
• We also ate at La Hacienda de San Angel for the first time at EP. They put chicken in the vegetarian enchiladas for me and it was one of my favorite meals of the trip.
• We did a few more photopass stops than we usually do since my niece was on this trip. Got cute magic shot photos with a frog and one with balloons by the castle at MK near Sleepy Hollow, and with a banshee in front of FOP.
• The character interaction I saw was surprisingly personal and delightful. Two that I can think of right now were Chip and Dale on a balcony in Frontierland playing with bubbles that a CM on the ground was blowing. A couple of little boys were playing with them in the bubbles too and laughing at Chip and Dale. Probably a highlight of that family's day. Another was the ugly stepsisters outside of Princess Fairytale Hall. The people who wanted to visit with them stood on green dots around the barrier (maybe flowers or something) and the sisters talked and interacted with each one individually. Much more that just a wave and blown kisses. I was impressed, and since they were on the ground level with the guest it felt a lot closer even though they were back from the barriers.
• And finally, after this long rambling post of thoughts, I leave you with one last thought. I miss daily housekeeping. Coming back to the room after a long day to a crisply made bed, fresh towels with the dirty ones removed, and all the trash from last nights mobile order dinner on the balcony removed. I understand why, but I miss it.

I totally agree about Docking Bay 7. We ate there twice!

 

[melmel]

With Door Dash and Grubhub, this shouldn't be an issue, right?

We were there the last week of January, and lack of food was our only complaint. With parks closing early we had a hard time justifying a sit down dinner, which led to scrambling for options. We ended up ordering pizza hut, as the qs at the resort only had mediocre hamburgers and 1 night of that was more than plenty. This was on top of planning ahead with a suitcase full of snacks and breakfast foods. Overall really glad we went but food can definitely be a struggle, if you don't want mickey shaped foods for every meal.

 

[Ds4angels]

Hopefully this is the right spot for this.
Stayed at Pop, we did AK, MK and Epcot.
The good... Mobile Ordering worked very well. But we had used it on a previous trip, so I think we were ahead of the game there.
Buses, they come often at the beginning and end of the day. It's nice to know you will have an actual seat without someone's butt in your face.
Many CMs were great, doing their best to bring the magic.
Lines were long, but constantly moved, so they went quickly.
The bakery in France is still spot on delicious.

The not so good... Lots of people not understanding what those lines on the ground mean (like where have you been for the last 11 months). Epcot was the worst of the parksfor people not wearing masks as they walked around.
Lack of QS, some of our favorite were closed.
Quite a few CMs just interacting with each other and not the guests. I don't remember really seeing that before.
DS was the worst place for not wearing masks. We saw some guy walking and drinking a beer with his son. CM asked him to out his mask back on. The guys actually drank walking past her and walked into her. I'm hoping she reported him. DH didn't want to confront him incase the guy was drunk. (Still makes me made thinking about it)

Overall a really good trip, different for sure, but still nice to be "in the bubble".

 

[LiteBrite]

Did the zoom Photopass picture then headed back to Pandora since FoP was showing at 15 minute wait. Got in line at 3:02 and on at 3:21, so just over the quoted time. Every seat was full, queue was well distanced, exiting out was not. The stairwell out was packed. We left room in front of us but had people right behind. It was really the only time we felt crowded all day.

We felt the same way about Soarin - the queue was orderly and people observed the spacing on the way in, but it was a total free for all on the way out - people shoulder to shoulder all through that long hallway, no way to keep distant. I think if we do that again, we'll try to wait and be the last people from our theater walking out, so we have some control over it.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Thanks for such a wonderful summary! When you drove to HS, what time did you drive over and when did the gates open? We'll be there in a couple weeks staying at Caribbean Beach and trying to decide whether to use the Skyliner or drive to HS.

I don't have my trip notebook with me, but I believe it was a 9am opening, and we got to the lot at around 7:55am. They made the 2 cars in front of us loop back out to the highway, but we slowed waayyy down and they let us start lining up for the lot without having to loop. After the temp check we were in the park by 8:15, or so and everything was open with people spreading out to the various areas of the park. We were walking on Mickey & Minnie by 8:30.

As for the Skyliners, they were running, so we probably would have been able to keep the same schedule either way.

 

[cjlong88]

We felt the same way about Soarin - the queue was orderly and people observed the spacing on the way in, but it was a total free for all on the way out - people shoulder to shoulder all through that long hallway, no way to keep distant. I think if we do that again, we'll try to wait and be the last people from our theater walking out, so we have some control over it.

This was something we did all the time. Waiting until everyone else leaves makes exiting a ride so much easier and more comfortable. The only ones that are tough to do this are on rides like Haunted Mansion.

 

[lovethattink]

This was something we did all the time. Waiting until everyone else leaves makes exiting a ride so much easier and more comfortable. The only ones that are tough to do this are on rides like Haunted Mansion.

That’s what we try to do as well. We step side and let everyone pass since they seem in a hurry and we rarely are.

 

[RunWI1265]

When we did HS for rope drop, the skyliner was letting people off when the park had not opened yet. The gates to the park opened just before they opened the parking lot so everyone who walked/took the bus/skyliner early got into the park before the parking lot opened.

Seems like it changes every day though so it might just boil down to luck.

This was our experience as well on 1/29 and 1/31. We walked over from BWV. Both days those who arrived on foot and via skyliner were let in before any cars had come into the lot.