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

[JFox]

Random thoughts from our trip,

March 6-13
Southwest
Copper Creek

Copper Creek - About 1 hour prior to our landing I was reviewing my text messages and realized that the text I received had my arrival time for 12:00am. I know when I completed the check in process I had the correct time AND I had a reservation for ME. So I pay the $8 for in flight internet so I could update my arrival time. I finally get in and my arrival time says arriving via ME. I then try the chat feature that connects me to someone who without even letting me explain the situation says "go to the front desk."

I explain that I need her to update my arrival time and after insisting she finally does it. She ends her conversation with "you may now calmly pick up your bags and proceed to ME."

This is the second time I have had a 12:00am arrival time. When we were there in January we had a split stay and our room assignment text never came. I also used the chat feature and the CM said that my arrival time was for 12:00am. She could see that it was a split stay and fixed it right away.

Room view - when I booked I asked for a pool view. When we got to the resort our room location (6100) overlooked the front parking lot. Time made a request and we're moved to 5124 overlooking the smaller pool.

One last thing about CC - our hallway was a parking lot of mobility carts parked on either side of the hallway. I suspect they are parked in the hallway because they take up so much room and are an inconvenience to keep in the room. I suspect the housekeeping crew has the same sentiments when zig zapping their carts through the minefield in the hallway. Is it OK to store things outside my room? Like my empty luggage or coolers?

Bus transportation - we had the worst luck and spent a lot of time waiting at the resort/parks.

Mobile ordering - mobile ordering is the best!

Yak & Yeti - ate here for the first time and everyone loved it. Ordered too much food but it was all so good.

6ft markings - had some issues with this and many times felt that people were right on my tail. At those times I would say loudly to my kidlets, "do you know those people in front of you? No. Then step back from them and get on your line." Anyone close enough behind me that could hear got the point and stepped back.

Universal Studios - spent the day here on Wednesday. Too. Many. People.

Mask compliance - saw more people's faces than I would have liked to. It's been a year peeps. There was a strong CM presence throughout the parks holding their signs reminding people and asking for them to pull up their masks.

DAS - while in line for Pirates I overhead a female guest complaining about the wait time. She remarked to her friend that she was going to get a DAS card. "I will just tell them I have a bad back. Then we can get on all the rides without waiting. They can't say anything about it." Is that how easy it is?

RoR - successfully secured boarding groups from our resort room Sunday and Tuesday. No issues.

Oga's - I had an ADR for Tuesday 9am and although I checked and checked for a better time I was not successful. Monday night we went back to MGM (it will always be MGM in my family) and stopped by to see if we could go in. They let us in at 5:45pm, 7pm closing time. Quick stop at guest services on our way out to cancel the early morning reservation for the next day since I was within the 24 hr window.

Savi's & Droid Depot - my kidlets loved every minute. They had been looking forward to those experiences for a long time. I was so happy to see them experience GE for the first time.

Wait times - all times were exaggerated and we came in under every time. My kidlets would start a timer when we entered the que line. FYI, they started a time for pirates on Thursday and never turned it off. Now they are seeing how long the timer will go.

Crowds - crowd size was considerably larger than when we were here in January and picked up Thursday. Our spring break was early and was glad to be on our way out as more people began to arrive.

Flower and Garden Festival - my husband and I were excited to see this festival for the first time. My kidlets, not so much. We are taking an adults only weekend trip in May so we can enjoy the festival.

 

[SarahC97]

Random thoughts from our trip,

March 6-13
Southwest
Copper Creek

Copper Creek - About 1 hour prior to our landing I was reviewing my text messages and realized that the text I received had my arrival time for 12:00am. I know when I completed the check in process I had the correct time AND I had a reservation for ME. So I pay the $8 for in flight internet so I could update my arrival time. I finally get in and my arrival time says arriving via ME. I then try the chat feature that connects me to someone who without even letting me explain the situation says "go to the front desk."

I explain that I need her to update my arrival time and after insisting she finally does it. She ends her conversation with "you may now calmly pick up your bags and proceed to ME."

This is the second time I have had a 12:00am arrival time. When we were there in January we had a split stay and our room assignment text never came. I also used the chat feature and the CM said that my arrival time was for 12:00am. She could see that it was a split stay and fixed it right away.

Room view - when I booked I asked for a pool view. When we got to the resort our room location (6100) overlooked the front parking lot. Time made a request and we're moved to 5124 overlooking the smaller pool.

One last thing about CC - our hallway was a parking lot of mobility carts parked on either side of the hallway. I suspect they are parked in the hallway because they take up so much room and are an inconvenience to keep in the room. I suspect the housekeeping crew has the same sentiments when zig zapping their carts through the minefield in the hallway. Is it OK to store things outside my room? Like my empty luggage or coolers?

Bus transportation - we had the worst luck and spent a lot of time waiting at the resort/parks.

Mobile ordering - mobile ordering is the best!

Yak & Yeti - ate here for the first time and everyone loved it. Ordered too much food but it was all so good.

6ft markings - had some issues with this and many times felt that people were right on my tail. At those times I would say loudly to my kidlets, "do you know those people in front of you? No. Then step back from them and get on your line." Anyone close enough behind me that could hear got the point and stepped back.

Universal Studios - spent the day here on Wednesday. Too. Many. People.

Mask compliance - saw more people's faces than I would have liked to. It's been a year peeps. There was a strong CM presence throughout the parks holding their signs reminding people and asking for them to pull up their masks.

DAS - while in line for Pirates I overhead a female guest complaining about the wait time. She remarked to her friend that she was going to get a DAS card. "I will just tell them I have a bad back. Then we can get on all the rides without waiting. They can't say anything about it." Is that how easy it is?

RoR - successfully secured boarding groups from our resort room Sunday and Tuesday. No issues.

Oga's - I had an ADR for Tuesday 9am and although I checked and checked for a better time I was not successful. Monday night we went back to MGM (it will always be MGM in my family) and stopped by to see if we could go in. They let us in at 5:45pm, 7pm closing time. Quick stop at guest services on our way out to cancel the early morning reservation for the next day since I was within the 24 hr window.

Savi's & Droid Depot - my kidlets loved every minute. They had been looking forward to those experiences for a long time. I was so happy to see them experience GE for the first time.

Wait times - all times were exaggerated and we came in under every time. My kidlets would start a timer when we entered the que line. FYI, they started a time for pirates on Thursday and never turned it off. Now they are seeing how long the timer will go.

Crowds - crowd size was considerably larger than when we were here in January and picked up Thursday. Our spring break was early and was glad to be on our way out as more people began to arrive.

Flower and Garden Festival - my husband and I were excited to see this festival for the first time. My kidlets, not so much. We are taking an adults only weekend trip in May so we can enjoy the festival.

Regarding DAS: Disney depends on people to be honest about their needs. Theoretically, you could lie about it because they do not ask for proof, but it's also not necessarily something for those with mobility issues. Who knows? You cannot control other people but as someone who sincerely needs a DAS, I'm grateful to have it.

 

[MoreThanThis]

Hi everyone!

I booked a last minute trip with some family before all the spring break capacity issues started!

Today was our first park day. This was my first time back since January 2020.

We got to Animal Kingdom around 9:30am, took a resort break at 2PM, then hopped to Hollywood studios and Epcot from 4-11PM.

some quick takeaways:
- I’m shocked how easy it was to wait for rides. Prior to this trip, I was a fastpass or pass type of person. The lines for rides look long but you’re constantly moving that the time goes by quickly. The longest I waited was for FOP at 45 mins. We took on almost all big attractions (except Star Wars) and the wait was really easy to do. When we got to Hollywood, Mickey and Minnies Runaway was only a 15 min wait at 5:30 PM.

-Disney has done a really great job of putting social distancing in place, but many visitors don’t pay attention. On almost every attraction, I had parties standing literally right behind me and I kindly reminded them of their spots. They were kind too, but it was a bit alarming.

-The Skyliner in the evening/at sunset was wildly relaxing

-the CMs were really fantastic, still kind and putting the visitors at ease with waves and hellos

 

[brockash]

What’s the waiting like for buses at resorts that don’t have dedicated park lines/stops (I think values are the only ones with dedicated stops for each park)? Is it still a free for all or do they have lines at every resort now for distancing?

It really kinda depends on how many ppl are there and the resort. This past week we stayed at CBR and one morning walked up to the bus stop and it was packed, no line or anything just ppl everywhere. After waiting a little bit with no bus, I asked a few groups where they were headed...they all said MK (as were we,) so we left and hoofed it to Riviera as I felt like we'd have a better shot at getting on the first bus there. It worked and there was a line, not just ppl. packed everywhere, but they also had different bus stops depending on where you were going which really helped. In Oct. we stayed at AKL and for the most part, ppl. created lines. At Poly in Sept.; it was more of a free for all; at least until the bus stop was full and then ppl. started lining up on the little path. - That didn't work so well either though because on more than 1 occasion I saw ppl. not get on the bus they were trying to get on because of the line and the bus would leave half empty. None of the resorts I've stayed at in the last year had Cms at them. I've seen it in the past here and there, but not in the last year for my experience.

 

[Jonfw2]

Okay, guys. Here we go. Less than 1 week out from the first WDW trip in well over a year. Any last minute tips? Masks are ready to go, assume all the "regular" Disney stuff is done...so what- perhaps unique to Covid- should I be doing this week???

 

[kittylady1972]

Just back from a quick trip 9-March through 13-March.

10-March was a Universal Parks day only...we arrived way too early (thought it opened at 8am; it opened at 9am for non-Universal resort guests). We really only did Mummy, the train between US and IOA, got lucky enough to snag a 9:40 Virtual group for Hagrids, waiting for about 30 minutes or so for Hagrids in line, Spiderman was showing a long wait (40-50 minutes) as was Hulk (60?) around 10:30am so we chose not to wait. We enjoyed the Mardis Gras floats and several food items...I really like their setup there with the booths only wish they had a key of where each one was located in the park. The food was good though. We got in line for MiB with a 30 minute wait showing but it was a walk-on at 12:30pm. Loved seeing the different characters around the park...saw some Dr. Seuss characters all together and Gru and daughters together as well. Wish I could love these parks as much as Disney but I just don't feel it when I'm there. We had dinner plans at Disney Springs which was definitely crowded...or so we thought until we showed up there on Saturday.

11-March: Since we were staying at Riviera, we chose to take the Skyliner over to HS that morning even though DH was unsuccessful in getting a RoTR Boarding pass at 7am (I was driving to breakfast at the time and couldn't help). When we saw the line at the Skyliner station (at 8:30am on a 9am opening day) to go to HS we changed our minds...and rode back to Riviera and then thought we'd take a bus instead. Joke on us...only choice in the morning is Skyliner to HS or EPCOT. We hopped a bus to MK instead, walked over to Contemporary, did some shopping, then hopped a bus to HS. This of course meant we didn't arrive at HS until around 10am. The lines were already crazy looking with SDD at Little Mermaid and TSM running down to where it USED to be located. However we found it moved quite quickly. We were in line at about 10:15am and off the ride around 10:50am. Other lines were looking insane and we were hungry...but not having a lot of food options in the park we decided our best bet was to leave...and we took Skyliner to Caribbean Beach which was a GREAT decision. The food there was very good and we were able to get it quickly and eat outside there...then return to the park. We arrived back at the park just before 1pm, grabbed some ice cream, then sat down to try to get a RoTR boarding pass...success! With a return time estimated 80 minutes later, we headed back to our resort and came back later. Arrived back at park about 20 minutes before our RoTR window, the line was outside of the entrance to Galaxy's Edge but moved quickly...at first. Then we were stuck inside RoTR several times...including on the ride at several different points. For those not familiar I won't spoil it but since this was our 3rd or 4th time on this ride in the last year we knew what to expect...and the delays were very obvious. I think total time, with our Virtual Boarding pass, from line until we were off the ride was nearly 2 hours. We were then hungry again so we grabbed food in GE which was my first time eating there. We then had a little time to kill before our reservation at Oga's but lines were too long elsewhere to risk it...so we waited it out in GE area. Afterwards it was after 6:30pm and we chose to ride MFSR with about a 20 minute wait which put us beyond the 7pm park closing. We saw the lines for Skyliner again...and decided to take a bus to MK instead. Arrived at MK around 8pm with a 10pm closing. During this time we rode Space Mt (30 minute wait...took about that long), then over to HM (walk on) and finally Peter Pan (showed 40 minutes, we walked right onto it at 9:45pm ) and then park was closed and we bussed back to Riviera.

12-March: Magic Kingdom early day, we were at bus stop around 8:15am for a 9am opening and there was already a decent line so we missed the first bus by about 3 groups...but then 2 other buses were lined up right after that and we were at the parks close to 9am. We headed directly to BTMRR and walked right onto that at 9am but the line for Splash Mt next to it was insane...and all in the area we had to walk through to get to BTMRR after walking through from Haunted Mansion area. After BTMRR, we hit POC with about a 40 minute wait at 9:15am, though it moved pretty well. Aftewards we headed to Dumbo and did that with a walk-on, then Little Mermaid (also pretty much walk-on) and by 10:30am lines even for the Teacups were crazy long. So we left parks around 11am and went back to our resort. 3pm headed to EPCOT as we had a 4:45pm dinner reservation. Decided we had time for Test Track which was about a 30 minute wait. Then we chose to go inside the Mexico Pavillion after dinner and there was a long line outside of the pyramid but it did move quickly...we waited maybe 10 minutes to get inside and another 10 minutes to see Donald and his friends from the boat. At 6:30pm we hopped the Skyliner to HS for the last 90 minutes there. We got in line for MMRR and waited about 20 minutes for that. Then we decided to try ToT, which was still at 60 minutes at 7:20pm on an 8pm closing, and the queue was back behind the Tower...never been back there. I was sure it would be quicker...it wasn't and that was our last ride there. We then headed back to our resort. Note that the lines at the Skyliner look CRAZY long but they do move quickly and we usually waited no longer than 15 to 20 minutes despite the line looking long.

13-March: Our last park day, we had a park pass for AK. Arrived at the park after driving around 8:20am for an 8am opening. I decided we should do everything EXCEPT FoP first and that was the BEST decision. We got on EE (walk on), then Dinosaur (walk-on) then Safari (the queue for this started at the Lion King theater...but it did move quickly...we were on the ride in about 20 minutes. We then grabbed lunch and hopped in line for FoP which started around the bridge going towards Lion King but moved well and I think overall we waited about 45-50 minutes. Not bad at all and this was at 11:15am. Finished this and we wanted to get some more food before our Sangria University class at 2:30pm.

So items of note...some of the lines do look CRAZY long but as DH pointed out they tend to move continuously so it's not that as bad as it seems. Exceptions were ToT (what is up with that crazy wait?) and RoTR (it was clearly having a lot of technical issues). Best times for touring are definitely first thing in the morning and last 2 hours of the evening, which nice breaks during the day. If you can't find a decent mobile order window to eat when you want...try a nearby Disney Resort instead. CB was a gem of a find. Contempo Cafe would probably be a good option if at MK, and any of the two places at Riviera if you are at HS or EPCOT are great options. Oh should mention we did got to Disney Springs Saturday around 5:30pm and I have to say that place is pure MADNESS...you know where all the people are when you get there. Avoid it if you don't want to deal with crowds and several "maskholes" walking around trying to eat/drink while there...which isn't allowed...plenty of people were stopped and talked to but you know they didn't really stop that behavior. Skyliner lines also look crazy but they do move very well also. We head back in May/June and though this trip we weren't that focused on riding all the stuff for the next trip we are bringing a Disney first time so we'll need a solid plan for her to see as much as possible.

Questions ask away!

 

[thejbrowns]

Hi Everyone! Thought it would be helpful to post some notes here for those about to go to WDW since we just returned.
- Most parks open early, like 45 - 60 min. early in some cases. We got into EPCOT at 10:15 a.m. both days we went (listed as 11:00 a.m. open). MK opened at 8:30 a.m. (listed as 9:00 a.m. open)
- It is up to each ride if they open early. (7DMT was open at 8:30 a.m., but Pooh wasn't) You can get atleast 2-3 rides out of the way if you go early before it gets busier with virtually no wait!
- If you plan to mobile order food, think about it sooner rather than later. You have to select a "pick up window" of time, then you have to check in when you arrive and cannot enter or sit down until the app tells you that your order is ready.
- Wait times for buses seemed longer due to the EPCOT monorail line not operating, as well as less capacity on the buses. We stayed at the Contemporary and missed the other monorail option for sure. Lyft was very handy to have and was only about $10 if you are in a pinch. The buses and monorail were running 45 min. prior to park open (monorail only runs 45 min. prior to MK open, not all parks)
- Usually Disney will assist to get you anywhere on property if you have a reservation, however, we had a Kona breakfast and the front desk told us in order to make it we should drive our car if we had it or call a taxi/lyft. In the past, we've been given a voucher for a cab since they didn't have transportation running to get us there on time. Just a heads up for early breakfast goers.
- I know most ppl make their dining reservations before they arrive, but be prepared for it to be more difficult once you are on property right now to snag a last min. dining reservation. I will say that we kept refreshing the app and selecting difference times up until the time we wanted to eat and all of a sudden one popped up due to cancellation.
- I was asked a lot about crowds. 35% does feel like more when you are there b/c the train is still not back up, the people mover isn't running, and some restaurants aren't back. All of these types of things help thin out the crowds, so even though it's only 35%, it does feel like more. For some rides, you def miss the FP+ system, but it's also nice that popular rides only had about a 40 min wait for the most part. Peter Pan, 7DMT, and the other headliners stayed steady at high wait times.
Overall, it was a great trip and we had an amazing time. We felt very safe and the cast members made sure everyone was in compliance.

If anyone is about to go and has any questions, feel free! I just wish I knew about how early they were opening the parks before our 3rd day, so I could have taken advantage of the time!

 

[RollTideinMD]

Finally caught up! I am loving everyone's posts.

 

[whodey319]

What’s the waiting like for buses at resorts that don’t have dedicated park lines/stops (I think values are the only ones with dedicated stops for each park)? Is it still a free for all or do they have lines at every resort now for distancing?

just got back yesterday from grand floridian. The buses were bad, there are not nearly enough of them running and it is not a capacity issue. We waited 30-45 minutes multiple times just for a single bus to show up (it was not a deal where we couldn't get on because it was full, there just wasn't a bus ever). With the epcot monorail closed on top of it, transportation was not a strong suit on this trip

There were lines at the hotel to line up and social distance to go to specific parks so it was not a free for all which was nice

 

[disneydentist]

Thanks for the update.

 

[thejbrowns]

just got back yesterday from grand floridian. The buses were bad, there are not nearly enough of them running and it is not a capacity issue. We waited 30-45 minutes multiple times just for a single bus to show up (it was not a deal where we couldn't get on because it was full, there just wasn't a bus ever). With the epcot monorail closed on top of it, transportation was not a strong suit on this trip

There were lines at the hotel to line up and social distance to go to specific parks so it was not a free for all which was nice

I do agree with this. The bus situation at the Contemporary was rough too. The worst was waiting for a bus from Disney Springs back to the resort. Waited about 45 minutes and multiple buses just passed by with the note "refilling my pixie dust" and many were parked across the street. We ended up getting a lyft the second time we went. Line was just as long.

 

[Kimg88]

We are here. Planning to "rope drop" HS tomorrow after trying for a boarding group. We will walk in. Please give me a first ride strategy...longest waits look like smugglers run then tower and slinky. Which ones run before "real" opening? Please give me a strategy. We had one Saturday for MK and for AK Sunday and it was perfect. Thank you!

 

[WIll C]

I do agree with this. The bus situation at the Contemporary was rough too. The worst was waiting for a bus from Disney Springs back to the resort. Waited about 45 minutes and multiple buses just passed by with the note "refilling my pixie dust" and many were parked across the street. We ended up getting a lyft the second time we went. Line was just as long.

Yah, Disney Springs got crazy as the night went on. I was lucky enough to bail early enough that most people were still coming in and not going out. Still had to wait a bit for a bus but nothing more than about 20 minutes (and I saw mine leave just before I got to the spot). I can imagine nearer to 10 or 11pm it would be bad.

Make sure you get there before 5pm or so if you want to get in line for Gideon's. My first night, I got there around 6pm and they were full. 4pm and I only had a about a 30 minute virtual queue and another 20 minutes in line.

 

[No.1000]

Saw a "Best day at HS" video from AllEars. She said everyone goes to SR and SDD, so she recommends heading down Sunset and hitting TOT and RRC first thing. She said you will have to wait for the other 2 no matter what (even at ropedrop), but you can cut the lines for TOT and RRC. HTH.

 

[hes122]

Saw a "Best day at HS" video from AllEars. She said everyone goes to SR and SDD, so she recommends heading down Sunset and hitting TOT and RRC first thing. She said you will have to wait for the other 2 no matter what (even at ropedrop), but you can cut the lines for TOT and RRC. HTH.

That's EXACTLY what we did 2 weeks ago. We arrived around 8:15ish for a 9:00 opening. Walked on to RNRC around 8:25ish (TOT wasn't open yet) and then had about a 20-25ish minute wait at TOT. We got got BG 10 for ROTR and received the notification either just as we were getting on or off TOT (I forget which). We then went to Smuggler's Run (waited about 20; posted 15). ROTR was down when we went over to get in line around 9:50ish. We hung around for about 10ish minutes when it came back online so we did that right away.

After ROTR, we got in line for TSMM (posted time was about 40; we didn't wait that long though). While we were in line we mobile order at ABC Commissary for a noonish pickup. After TSMM, we went and got our lunch and then got in line for MMRR (which was posted around 45 minutes I think; we waited probably 35-40).

We got all of that done by 1:15. We got in line at the Skyliner (walk on at both spots) around 1:45 to head back to the resort for some pool time (that really turned into nap time).

We were going to go back to HS after our break, but ultimately decided to go to MK and knock out some things instead.

 

[zianha]

Copper Creek - About 1 hour prior to our landing I was reviewing my text messages and realized that the text I received had my arrival time for 12:00am. I know when I completed the check in process I had the correct time AND I had a reservation for ME. So I pay the $8 for in flight internet so I could update my arrival time. I finally get in and my arrival time says arriving via ME. I then try the chat feature that connects me to someone who without even letting me explain the situation says "go to the front desk."

I explain that I need her to update my arrival time and after insisting she finally does it. She ends her conversation with "you may now calmly pick up your bags and proceed to ME."

This is the second time I have had a 12:00am arrival time. When we were there in January we had a split stay and our room assignment text never came. I also used the chat feature and the CM said that my arrival time was for 12:00am. She could see that it was a split stay and fixed it right away.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
The 12am arrival time thing happened to me too in January! I saw it the day before I left and called Disney, they claimed it was some technical issue and transferred me to the website support department who told me they couldn't do anything about it but the CM called the Polynesian front desk directly and someone there assured me my room would be ready when I arrived.

I got to the airport and had a message that I needed to go to the front desk to check in. A CM ended up telling me that the reason they didn't give me my room number to do the Direct To Room Service was because I didn't have a credit card on file....

 

[lovethattink]

We’re going to DHS tomorrow too. May the force be with you when you try for a bg!

What are your must do attractions?

 

[subtchr]

I noticed that the wording on the park hopper hotline is different as of today (yes, I am a nerd who calls it everyday, for academic/future planning purposes!)

Before today, it simply said that park hopping would be available for all parks starting at 2:00.

Today, it says that all guests with park reservations may enter, and that park hopping would be available starting at 2:00 for all parks "unless updates are provided here" (meaning the hotline). Sounds as if they may be anticipating the possibility of limited park hopping some times this week.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I noticed that the wording on the park hopper hotline is different as of today (yes, I am a nerd who calls it everyday, for academic/future planning purposes!)

Before today, it simply said that park hopping would be available for all parks starting at 2:00.

Today, it says that all guests with park reservations may enter, and that park hopping would be available starting at 2:00 for all parks "unless updates are provided here" (meaning the hotline). Sounds as if they may be anticipating the possibility of limited park hopping some times this week.

I called and noticed too. Was concerned at first it might say that hopping wasn't permitted but was thankful when it said it was. The message they're using now makes a lot more sense so hopefully they only changed it for that reason.

In the past it always said it would be updated at 2 PM, even if you called at 5:30. Hoping this change is to just make it clearer.

 

[Sarahslay]

I just got back last night from my 5th trip since reopening, after going in August, Thanksgiving week, Christmas week, and Presidents day weekend. I guess you could say, aside from the August trip, I know how to pick the busiest time to go lol. This trip was great, perfect weather with hardly a cloud int he sky for much of the 3 day trip. The crowds were there, and there were sooooo many tech issues it was nuts, but we made the most of it. I do use DAS now because I have been diagnosed with MS, but I only used it once or twice per day so I still got in plenty of lines.

I could give a loooong drawn out version of our trip but I'll summarize (maybe lol), starting with this: get there early. It is imperative if you don't want to stand in lines all day to get there at least 45 minutes before the park opens. MK on Friday got busy FAST, and if we hadn't gotten there early I would have had to use that DAS pass at every turn, but I only used it twice (7 Dwarfs and Splash, but we could have ridden both earlier with shorter waits, just one of my triggers is heat and they are both 80% outdoor waits and it was not a cool weekend). We walked from YC, leaving our room at 7:30, and they opened temp check at 8:12 for a 9am opening before cars were let in. We got so much done, including all of TSL, before it got crowded. The system was down nationwide for magic bands, which meant the DAS system was down and we had to go get a paper pass, but we never needed it. We didn't ride smugglers run or star tours because they make DD12 motion sick, but we could have, instead we took water breaks (for my sake), and watched calvalcades. We could have had every ride in the park done by our 12:55 ADR if we had gone ride to ride. If you get there early, it's easy to get it all done. Same with AK, we took our bags to the car and were on a bus and to the park by 7:15, pretty much walked on FOP and had everything but the safari ridden by 8:45 (that's when the DAS came in because I needed a break and the line was looooooooong due to delayed opening of the ride, I still waited at some tables nearby with a water). by 9:30 we had ridden everything and then did the nature walks, some shopping, lunch at 10:45, and were leaving the park to head home by 11:30 only having not done Rafiki's planet watch and the bird show.

We rode all forms of Disney transport besides the monorail, there were some long waits mid day with some not so fun to wait with people, but it wasn't horrible and the buses were plentiful in the mornings when it mattered. We even got stuck on the skyliner coming back from HS Saturday night, were given a FP for Epcot after getting off but passed on it because I couldn't go anymore (and my daughter was shaken at that point, wanted to go lay down), but other than that it was great and I still maintain that I won't drive when I go on vacation even when it's not perfect. Every day cars were let in far enough behind park opening to not make it worth it.

Also, if you want to talk to another guest at the bus stop don't pull your mask down and lean in real close to them, they won't appreciate it. Also don't argue about having to collapse your stroller with the bus driver (see my comment about not fun people to wait with above)