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

[JFox]

My first rule in planning - avoid holidays.

 

[ForceofWill]

Whats stopping them from using the fast pass scanners to make a virtual que. Scan your band, and your app says come back at this time. I would do that and return in 2 hours but my kids will NOT stand in a line for 2 hours.

 

[JakeAZ]

It's only going to get worse as we move into Spring Break, summer break for schools and ultimately the 50th in the Fall / Halloween / Christmas.

I hope WDW has a plan or they are going to have a hard time convincing the non-diehards to return.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

well, I’ve already had Covid- and I actually left New York City and moved to the glorious red Florida state to escape the craziness with masks.

Well, Disney World is not a place where you can “escape the craziness with masks.”

And can there be one thread that doesn’t get political? Good grief.

 

[JakeAZ]

just not enough open to absorb crowds maybe

This probably. If you cancel everything else, where else are people supposed to go?

But man, moving from one 60+ min line to another, over and over again, sounds awful. Especially at current prices.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Whats stopping them from using the fast pass scanners to make a virtual que. Scan your band, and your app says come back at this time. I would do that and return in 2 hours but my kids will NOT stand in a line for 2 hours.

I don't see how that would be much different than fastpasses in that it would still require a second line. Which is currently not really feasible. 1) Many of the lines wouldn't have proper distancing if the fastpass queues were being used and 2) the already long/extended standby lines would be made even longer, extending even further out into the walkways. And if you (general you) aren't waiting in line for a ride, there really isn't much else to do/places to go right now, therefore crowding the walkways even more. It gets discussed on here just about every week, but fastpasses/virtual queue just isn't really doable until distancing goes down.

 

[ForceofWill]

I don't see how that would be much different than fastpasses in that it would still require a second line. Which is currently not really feasible. 1) Many of the lines wouldn't have proper distancing if the fastpass queues were being used and 2) the already long/extended standby lines would be made even longer, extending even further out into the walkways. And if you (general you) aren't waiting in line for a ride, there really isn't much else to do/places to go right now, therefore crowding the walkways even more. It gets discussed on here just about every week, but fastpasses/virtual queue just isn't really doable until distancing goes down.

I meant instead of the line. Your time to arrive would be adjusted based on where they wanted the end of it, within 15mins or so of the front. Everyone's in the park already anyway, don't see why it wouldn't work. The lines run into everything and congest anyway.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Well, Disney World is not a place where you can “escape the craziness of masks.”

And can there be one thread that doesn’t have some political comment? Good grief.

Thanks for saying what we're probably all thinking haha.

 

[JakeAZ]

I meant instead of the line. Your time to arrive would be adjusted based on where they wanted the end of it, within 15mins or so of the front. Everyone's in the park already anyway, don't see why it wouldn't work. The lines run into everything and congest anyway.

I think she means, where would you go while waiting for your time? No shows, less open, etc. You'd just be walking around the parks, aimlessly.

 

[wilkydelts]

With 4 hours still left at MK according to Touringplans ride time app the majority of rides are 15-40 minutes and that includes Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain.

I would really like to hear from others who are there because monitoring it all day I would not call it a day I would be grateful I was able to avoid. Probably not an ideal day but not insanity.

 

[ForceofWill]

I think she means, where would you go while waiting for your time? No shows, less open, etc. You'd just be walking around the parks, aimlessly.

That's totally ok with me. We enjoy being at the parks but I can't stand being restricted to standing in crazy lines.

 

[Tink9721]

That's totally ok with me. We enjoy being at the parks but I can't stand being restricted to standing in crazy lines.

Right, but then all those people from every attraction line are now just standing around the park. The walkways would just be full of all the people who would've been standing in line. That doesn't sound enjoyable to me either.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

That's totally ok with me. We enjoy being at the parks but I can't stand being restricted to standing in crazy lines.

Do you realize how many people that would push out to walkways, taking up all the tables and benches, filling up the shops, blocking walkways? Would be a total nightmare. You are really underestimating how many people would be loitering around.

 

[Tink9721]

Do you realize how many people that would push out to walkways, taking up all the tables and benches, filling up the shops, blocking walkways? Would be a total nightmare. You are really underestimating how many people that would be loitering around.

Exactly. A good chunk of the thousands of people in the park at any given time are in lines. If those lines don't exist, all those people have to go somewhere

 

[JakeAZ]

Disney spent years builiding up a a very loyal base of guests. So loyal, some bought timeshares knowing they will continue to come for many more years, even generations.

If they don't watch themselves, they can flush all that down the toilet.

I am completely aware the cause of this isn't their fault. But they need to do something to spread out crowds.

Just being open was cool at the beginning, but all these cost saving measures could end up costing them much more when things are back to "normal".

Let's be honest, if the distancing is non-existent right now, there is no logic in "we can't have shows" because of distancing. "we can't have shows" is all about saving money.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Disney spent years builiding up a a very loyal base of guests. So loyal, some bought timeshares knowing they will continue to come for many more years, even generations.

If they don't watch themselves, they can flush all that down the toilet.

I am completely aware the cause of this isn't their fault. But they need to do something to spread out crowds.

Just being open was cool at the beginning, but all these cost saving measures could end up costing them much more when things are back to "normal".

Let's be honest, if the distancing is non-existent right now, there is no logic in "we can't have shows" because of distancing. "we can't have shows" is all about saving money.

It's more the shows with live actors that have been closed, there are plenty of shows that are and have been open.

I've said it a few times, but my trip that I did last year was pretty much completely normal for me, other than having to wear a mask. If I hadn't started a new job and had more PTO, I'd have been several more times by now and would have easily renewed my AP.

ETA: I'll say that I know that not everyone does the parks like me, but I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who are similar.

 

[ColoradoMom12]

I hope WDW has a plan or they are going to have a hard time convincing the non-diehards to return.

I’m a diehard, and Disney is having a hard time convincing even me! We travel at some of the busiest times of the year, and the lack of FP kind of feels like a dealbreaker unfortunately. We’re passholders, and I am thinking that unless at the very least FP returns in some form, I won’t be renewing. Disney has taken too much away (FP, EMH, resort airline checkin, and now magical express as well). I’m happy to spend my vacation money somewhere I feel like the expense is worth it. Right now that’s not at Disney. But like I said, we’re diehards and will still visit Disney (I don’t think they can convince me to stay away entirely, lol), just not as frequently and not as passholders.

 

[JakeAZ]

I’m a diehard, and Disney is having a hard time convincing even me! We travel at some of the busiest times of the year, and the lack of FP kind of feels like a dealbreaker unfortunately. We’re passholders, and I am thinking that unless at the very least FP returns in some form, I won’t be renewing. Disney has taken too much away (FP, EMH, resort airline checkin, and now magical express as well). I’m happy to spend my vacation money somewhere I feel like the expense is worth it. Right now that’s not at Disney. But like I said, we’re diehards and will still visit Disney (I don’t think they can convince me to stay away entirely, lol), just not as frequently and not as passholders.

I'm with you.

We are not diehards, but we were very excited for our April 2020, 12 person "grandma's 70th" extended family trip. We've rescheduled for Thanksgiving 2021 (mostly because of expiring airline credits, DVC credits and nobody is getting younger, especially grandma!) and based on the current situation, I have a bad feeling about what we have in store for us. Hopefully the vaccine rollout catches fire and things get better later this year. Only time will tell. But if we get there and it's the same as it is today...count us out for future trips. My wife and I had also tossed around the idea of looking into purchasing DVC (we are renting points on this trip to check it out), but that is completely off the table now. Stopping DME killed that for us. We know nothing is guaranteed, but things like that show just how one sided the Disney relationship really is.

 

[JakeAZ]

It's more the shows with live actors that have been closed, there are plenty of shows that are and have been open.

I get that, but what about the nighttime shows? Those are quintessentially Disney. Nobody does them better. A lot of the built in cost of the daily ticket was for viewing nighttime shows.

I get the "we need to space things out" argument. I'm not opposed. But, when I hear stories of packed parks with nowhere to go but lines, distancing goes out the door. Also, this is an amusement park. I have to believe the majority of people going have accepted things will not be spaced out. Disney can try, but it's practically impossible.

It just seems like people will eventually catch on. How long can they use the "we're keeping crowds down" argument to cut costs while at the same time, the crowds are becoming a problem because of the cutting of costs?

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I get that, but what about the nighttime shows? Those are quintessentially Disney. Nobody does them better. A lot of the built in cost of the daily ticket was for viewing nighttime shows.

I get the "we need to space things out" argument. I'm not opposed. But, when I hear stories of packed parks with nowhere to go but lines, distancing goes out the door. Also, this is an amusement park. I have to believe the majority of people going have accepted things will not be spaced out. Disney can try, but it's practically impossible.

It just seems like people will eventually catch on. How long can they use the "we're keeping crowds down" argument to cut costs while at the same time, the crowds are becoming a problem because of the cutting of costs?

Today is the Saturday of a popular holiday weekend. For most of last week there were hardly any lines and all the parks besides MK were practically empty. FOP had a 10 minute line at 2:45pm one day! The parks are not packed with long lines consistently.. HEA is incredibly expensive to run when they aren’t selling enough tickets. Most days they don’t hit the limited capacity. They will wait until transmission is lower (thanks, vaccines!) and more people become comfortable traveling again.

We know nighttime shows will return. Have you seen World Showcase lagoon lately? They’re prepping for Harmonious. Nighttime entertainment will happen.