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

[Orion Nebula]

We just returned from our trip. We were in the parks Saturday and Sunday. I have been to DW four times since they reopened in July. Yes, this was the busiest it has been in all of my trips. All parks were sold out for the day. Boat captain told us leaving Wilderness lodge on our way to MK that it is indeed only open 35% but that is 35% of New Year’s Eve level crowds. He said that MK can hold 40,000 people at 35%. We did not do rope drop. On Saturday at MK we did wait 80 minutes for 7 dwarfs, 50 for space mountain, 45 for thunder mountain, and 60 for splash. Everything else was less. That evening was much better. Splash and Thunder were walk ons and space was 20. I don’t know about 7 dwarfs. On Sunday we went to AK. It was also at capacity. Expedition was 35, 50 for dinosaur, 35 for safari, and 60 for flight of passage.

For the good news....we had a wonderful time! The weather was great and food was good. We did wait slightly more this trip in lines but nothing Crazy (besides 7 dwarfs). I would do again in a heartbeat! Lines look a lot longer than they are because of distancing. Mask compliance was great both days. Characters were out. Also ate a fantastic supper at chef art’s homecomin. We got donuts from Everglazed as well.

The only thing that bothered me was when one family member waited in line and then the rest of the family joined in right when they were close to getting on the ride. They are walking past sooo many people in a tight area. I am surprised Disney allows this. This happened on 7 dwarfs. I had already waited a good 50 minutes and I was finally getting into the actual que. I looked up and 4 adults jumped in front of me right where the cast member stands to let you into the que. I told them that the line started 50 minutes back and they said they were catching up to their family. The cast member let them in. I watched them squeeze past everyone in line. They were already coming off the ride by the time I was even inside the building. They waved at me as they left. Something similar happened on space as well.

Is it possible to know when the parks sell out of reservations ahead of time? Such as a few days earlier? Obviously you can't do anything about it, but it would be interesting to see.

Ya that "hold the line" crap gets old and is ALWAYS an issue. Standing in line for so long in the sun while roasting only to see a bunch people push through makes my BP go up.

"excuse me... excuse me..." ugh

Glad you still had a great trip!

 

[KSL]

Hey all I'm still catching up a few pages but haven't seen much discussed here about pre-pandemic Single Rider lines. Can anyone who has been recently comment on whether or not they are open? I am thinking about Test Track, Rockin' Rollercoaster, and Expedition Everest (are there others!?). Thanks!

 

[SarahC97]

Hey all I'm still catching up a few pages but haven't seen much discussed here about pre-pandemic Single Rider lines. Can anyone who has been recently comment on whether or not they are open? I am thinking about Test Track, Rockin' Rollercoaster, and Expedition Everest (are there others!?). Thanks!

They are not open. They're using the space from single-rider lines for the extended queues required for physical distancing.

 

[KSL]

They are not open. They're using the space from single-rider lines for the extended queues required for physical distancing.

Ahhh, ok. Thank you!

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

Today was our last park day. We were in HS on Sunday and today, MK on Monday, AK on Tuesday, and Epcot yesterday. I will agree with many others on most points, but here are my takeaways:

We loved online check in and mobile ordering. It was excellent to order our food from the opposite end of the park and have it ready when we arrived. We ordered Satuli Canteen from Rafiki's Planet Watch. Clicked "I'm Here" when we arrived, waited 5 minutes, then were able to enter, get the food, and sit right down. Easy Peasy. We also used Mobile Ordering at Ronto Roasters, Docking Bay 7, Aloha Isle, the Milk Stand, and Pecos Bills with no quarrels.

Social distancing in queues, dining areas, and shops was as good as can be expected. Disney really couldn't do any better in those areas. There were some rare moments of discomfort, but always due to non-compliance from someone who thinks the lines on the ground are some kind of clown car challenge.

The crowding throughout the walkways and bathrooms are a whole different story. Social distancing was simply non-existent this week in the main areas of all the parks. It was uncomfortably busy. Someone here asked if there were moments where it was not possible to keep social distance, and I would say that it is rare to have 6 feet of distance unless you are in a queue, dining location, shop, less traveled route, or a bathroom stall, or if it is within the first hour or two of park open.

Lines were pretty long after the first couple hours in the parks. They did not seem to die down anywhere throughout the day, except maybe Epcot. Epcot was pretty slow yesterday, Wednesday. Even though it was slow, though, we had issues with crowding around test track and in multiple walkways in the WS.

Drivers are at a disadvantage getting to every park. I am wondering if that will be how they implement the 30 minute early entry to resort guests. We were turned away at the gate at Epcot yesterday for being 75 minutes early, and we were turned away at HS today and we were only an hour early. We had to drive in circles for a few minutes and try again later. In Epcot, we still made rope drop, but in HS they didn't even let us drive into the parking lot until after 8:15.

Despite the uncomfortable crowds and long lines, we still had a great time. We waited in many more lines this trip than we did in our past trips with FP+, but we still rode everything we wanted to. It was not the experience we were hoping for, but still enjoyable and magical.

We just returned from our trip. We were in the parks Saturday and Sunday. I have been to DW four times since they reopened in July. Yes, this was the busiest it has been in all of my trips. All parks were sold out for the day. Boat captain told us leaving Wilderness lodge on our way to MK that it is indeed only open 35% but that is 35% of New Year’s Eve level crowds. He said that MK can hold 40,000 people at 35%. We did not do rope drop. On Saturday at MK we did wait 80 minutes for 7 dwarfs, 50 for space mountain, 45 for thunder mountain, and 60 for splash. Everything else was less. That evening was much better. Splash and Thunder were walk ons and space was 20. I don’t know about 7 dwarfs. On Sunday we went to AK. It was also at capacity. Expedition was 35, 50 for dinosaur, 35 for safari, and 60 for flight of passage.

For the good news....we had a wonderful time! The weather was great and food was good. We did wait slightly more this trip in lines but nothing Crazy (besides 7 dwarfs). I would do again in a heartbeat! Lines look a lot longer than they are because of distancing. Mask compliance was great both days. Characters were out. Also ate a fantastic supper at chef art’s homecomin. We got donuts from Everglazed as well.

The only thing that bothered me was when one family member waited in line and then the rest of the family joined in right when they were close to getting on the ride. They are walking past sooo many people in a tight area. I am surprised Disney allows this. This happened on 7 dwarfs. I had already waited a good 50 minutes and I was finally getting into the actual que. I looked up and 4 adults jumped in front of me right where the cast member stands to let you into the que. I told them that the line started 50 minutes back and they said they were catching up to their family. The cast member let them in. I watched them squeeze past everyone in line. They were already coming off the ride by the time I was even inside the building. They waved at me as they left. Something similar happened on space as well.

Thanks, Mindy S and maciemouse, for your reports! I am so happy to see both of you say that you had a great time, even with the challenges. We are heading down tomorrow morning and your positivity has boosted my packing day so thank you!!!

 

[SarahC97]

Thanks, Mindy S and maciemouse, for your reports! I am so happy to see both of you say that you had a great time, even with the challenges. We are heading down tomorrow morning and your positivity has boosted my packing day so thank you!!!

You know, when it comes down to it, you're at DISNEY! Of course you'll have a good time! Can't wait to hear about your trip.

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

You know, when it comes down to it, you're at DISNEY! Of course you'll have a good time! Can't wait to hear about your trip.

We went to Tampa for Thanksgiving weekend but flew into MCO and spent Thanksgiving afternoon at DS and had dinner at Homecomin'. I never thought being at DS could be so magical! That tiny little taste of Disney was a.maz.ing. My DS15 has talked about it repeatedly since then....how cool it was just to BE THERE. So this trip is (or was until last night) a surprise for DS15 and DS13. We talked last night about crowds and long lines and waits they aren't used to and they absolutely care not. And the funniest part is that they both said "Mom, you're gonna cry aren't you?" and then added that they might too! And that, my friends, is why I will pay whatever Disney asks of me for as long as those two boys want to continue to go with his old fogey parents. They go, they soak it all in, and they are KIDS, not surly, hard to please teenagers, for a few days. Nothing else like it!

I'll try to report as we go!! Thanks to everyone for the reports and advice. So helpful as always!

 

[gatorlisa]

Hey all I'm still catching up a few pages but haven't seen much discussed here about pre-pandemic Single Rider lines. Can anyone who has been recently comment on whether or not they are open? I am thinking about Test Track, Rockin' Rollercoaster, and Expedition Everest (are there others!?). Thanks!

Single rider lines were used to fill in empty spaces, which puts people from different parties right next to each other. While they have increased capacity of some rides, no longer leaving empty rows, they are still not putting people from different parties right next to each other with no spacing. I would not expect single rider to return until there is no longer a need for social distancing and keeping parties separate.

 

[emmabelle]

Ended up going to MK and of course the lines were long. We caught the bus from BCV at 7:56am. We were in the park by 8:25am. Line just to turn styles was long. We went to Thunder first and waited until 8:45am for them to open. When we got off we went to Pirates since we hadn’t done it. Ran into a family who apparently doesn’t think mask compliance is for them. They were going to put us on the same boat and I said I wouldn’t ride with them because they haven’t worn masks through the whole line. The CM said okay I’ll put you on the next boat. The people behind us said they didn’t want to ride with them either. Lol

From there everything was long so we went to lLittle Mermaid and Dumbo and then got nachos and dole whips and called it a day. Pool time!

 

[2vets]

I have done ROTR on a VIP tour one time. We all had to have our boarding group already (as in the VIP Tour Folks didn't reserve it for us, we were responsible for securing on our own just like everyone else.

And because tours are usually planned out for the most "bang" for the bucks you're spending, you have to be able to pivot, change your plans, and arrive at DHS within the hour your boarding group is called.

One of the main reasons ROTR is not included in the VIP tour is that if it goes down, you lose valuable tour time. And, since it goes down often enough, that's too big of a risk.

As much as it seems like a let down, it's really a huge waste of time to try and do ROTR during a tour due to all of this.

I agree 100%. We didn't want to tie ourselves to DHS. Better to do ROTR on a non-VIP day. If they allowed VIP tour groups to do it without a BG, then it would make sense, but I don't see that happening soon!

 

[2vets]

Any thoughts about why things are so crazy now? President's Day is over, and Spring Break isn't for another couple of weeks. What gives? Are people trying to take advantage of work/school flexibility anticipating that things will soon go back to normal (normal-ish, I should say)?

 

[scrappinginontario]

Any thoughts about why things are so crazy now? President's Day is over, and Spring Break isn't for another couple of weeks. What gives? Are people trying to take advantage of work/school flexibility anticipating that things will soon go back to normal (normal-ish, I should say)?

People are in the mood to travel and Disney is a place where people feel safer travelling to = more people.

 

[Wosmama6]

Any thoughts about why things are so crazy now? President's Day is over, and Spring Break isn't for another couple of weeks. What gives? Are people trying to take advantage of work/school flexibility anticipating that things will soon go back to normal (normal-ish, I should say)?

this is what i'm wondering. it's making me not feel great about our upcoming dates, which are supposed to be before the big spring break rush... we booked March 4-10 because we at least thought it would be better than the week of the 13th. Oh well

 

[2vets]

this is what i'm wondering. it's making me not feel great about our upcoming dates, which are supposed to be before the big spring break rush... we booked March 4-10 because we at least thought it would be better than the week of the 13th. Oh well

I hear ya! We researched spring breaks and end of year dates for schools/colleges and selected 4/21-25, which should be in between. I anticipate a lot of rope drop/back to the hotel to hang by the pool with these reports....

@scrappinginontario, I suspect you're right.... It seems safer (with the irony being obvious in all these reports), After all, we're all going, amirite?

 

[Orion Nebula]

I hear ya! We researched spring breaks and end of year dates for schools/colleges and selected 4/21-25, which should be in between. I anticipate a lot of rope drop/back to the hotel to hang by the pool with these reports....

@scrappinginontario, I suspect you're right.... It seems safer (with the irony being obvious in all these repoerts), After all, we're all going, amirite?

Ya by the looks of the March thread there are a lot of us going. What a crazy time, I would've never thought back when we re-booked that things would be like they are now. Especially this past week...

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

We joined TP this year for the first time also. So far, liking the Lines app. While we've found the morning times are not accurate, my DD noticed at least on one day few people were submitting wait times in the mornings. In the afternoon/evening we're finding more accuracy than MDE.

(We're trying to be better about remembering to start the timer so more actual wait times are submitted)

Ah, makes sense. Thanks!

this is what i'm wondering. it's making me not feel great about our upcoming dates, which are supposed to be before the big spring break rush... we booked March 4-10 because we at least thought it would be better than the week of the 13th. Oh well

Right there with you! I moved out dates to March 7-12 to get ahead of the crowds. Looking like a mistake now, but I guess we'll just try to make the best of it.

 

[wilkydelts]

The vast majority of the time if the line is outside the main queue area my kids and wife never wait with me. It is more difficult to ensure social distancing and keep them contained with no formal barriers out there. They always join me as we get close to the main entrance. I see no problem with this. I always inform the people behind me as a curtesy. With most rides being separated for space anyways it doesn’t change peoples wait time.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Any thoughts about why things are so crazy now? President's Day is over, and Spring Break isn't for another couple of weeks. What gives? Are people trying to take advantage of work/school flexibility anticipating that things will soon go back to normal (normal-ish, I should say)?

I'd say things are pretty much what we'd expect - some Magic Kingdom wait time stats courtesy of thrill-data.com:

• LAST FRIDAY IN FEBRUARY 2021 vs:
  • LAST FRIDAY IN JANUARY 2021: +46.0%
  • LAST FRIDAY IN FEBRUARY 2020: -23.6%
• LAST FRIDAY IN FEBRUARY 2020 vs:
  • LAST FRIDAY IN JANUARY 2020: +48.8%
• LAST FRIDAY IN JANUARY 2021 vs:
  • LAST FRIDAY IN JANUARY 2020: -23.2%

So we see that on both the last Friday in Jan and last Friday in February of this year, wait times are down 23% vs. the prior year - this is probably due to a combination of no FP+ (which helps standby lines move faster) plus reduced ride capacity due to social distancing (which hurts some standby lines).

And we see that the last Friday in February wait times increased by 48.8% last year over the last Friday in January last year and so far today they are up 46.0% over the same Friday this year.

Of course this data could change as the day goes along - they only have about 4 hours of data so far - but I think we are often confusing "FEELS LIKE" with the actual data. I have a friend there this week who was also there back in late January for a week+ (the same week we were there) and they said it's slightly busier FWIW. And it probably should be slightly busier because crowd levels the last week of February historically are about 20% higher than the last week of January.

 

[winterwhite]

We are here and just left HS for today.

from end to end it has not been a very magical trip. This morning at HS we were very aggressively approached by a parking attendant who actually yelled at us to the degree that I was apologizing to him and saying “okay, okay!” but he did not relent. If I hadn’t been in the car I would have been really uncomfortable. I didn’t get his name, but it was the one and only time I’ve entered a park and been looking for a manager or someone to talk to.

overall it’s been crowded, and it’s just very difficult to navigate. It’s impossible to tel who is in line for something versus just standing around, lines cross each other (eg smugglers run crosses the entrance to Oga’s and you have to push through the line to get to check in).

I think because people have fewer plans in general and there is very little you can do “on the fly” there is a lot more aimless wandering and groups stopping dead in the middle of a walkway to look at their phones, and there’s little room to go around them, so on the whole it is more difficult to navigate. Similarly, if you do manage to locate the end of a line, you can’t really just decide to pop in and get something to eat or grab a beer and walk around, since everything is packed full and you aren’t permitted to eat and walk anymore.

I mobile ordered at Aloha Isle and got absolutely steamrolled by an elderly couple who basically ran me down to get in front of me at pickup. Then had to stay in that crowded area because as soon as I moved to cut back over towards Frontierland I got accosted by a cast member who said I must be stationary to eat, even though I wasn’t eating anything and my mask was on.

overall - it’s been pretty upsetting and I’m not very hot to come back. We are passholders and if this continues through this year, I won’t be renewing.

that said I prefer the no-fast pass situation and would prefer virtual queues like ROTR or no fast pass at all. Everything else is moving relatively quickly and we are able to ride things that are usually a hot mess like Soarin’ and FEA without issue. I’d like to see this system of show up and wait your turn to stay, because fastpass apparently slows things down beyond significantly.


Disney needs to reopen more things and allow you to walk around with your $12 beer or it’s a no from us from here on out.

In 10 years of trips, I have never, ever been in close proximity to this many people in a WDW park.

 

[PrincessV]

When we talk weekday crowds vs weekend crowds, is Friday considered a weekend? Trying to figure out which parks to do on Friday if that seems to be the consensus slower day than a Sunday.

I consider Friday to be a weekend, for all intents and purposes.

So what time should I do a mobile order if we want to eat lunch at noon? Same for dinner?

I've had no problem ordering about an hour ahead of when I want to eat - but that's been on not-busy weekdays. I'd go earlier for busier times.

So are the TP wait times not accurate? There’s been people on here saying crowds are unbearable today, but the wait times on the app don’t look bad at all.

I've been using the Lines app since inception and find it to be extraordinarily accurate the majority of time! Every once in a while it's off, but mostly my actual wait times some in within minutes of TP's estimates.

People are in the mood to travel and Disney is a place where people feel safer travelling to = more people.

Agreed - I'm west of WDW, on the beaches, and tourism is up a LOT right now. it always is here this time of year, but it definitely feels busier this year compared to last.