Here Now - Hollywood Studios (3/15 and 3/17)
and a hint of EPCOT (3/16).
Previous Posts: # 8185 & 8224
My 2 experiences with getting a ROTR BG:
Both times - off wifi, find area with best service. For us, it was on the balcony of the YC. Used time.is website to track time.
First attempt - hit join from home screen at 6:58 and refreshed at exactly 6:59:59. It took about 2 seconds to refresh. I hit join immediately after. Ended up with BG 73, which was called at 1pm.
Second attempt- Same set-up. This time, I hit join on the home screen at 6:59:59 and ended up with BG 3, which was called around 8:40am.
Walked over from YC at about 7:45. Was walking up to DHS when they opened the second (and more convenient) temp tent on the right, which was at about 8am. The line quickly grew behind us as the Skyliner was unloading. The first bus had just arrived. Luckily, we were near the front of the pack on the right tent side and they let us in at 8:10. This was our experience both DHS days.
We booked it to SDD with almost everyone else. We followed the markers on the ground while others started wide. The coaster had done at least one ride before we arrived at the main entrance, where CMs told people to file in and get on the marked path. We ended up being near the front, and since we were a party of 2, they held two or three larger parties and let us walk right on! By the time we were off, the line was 40 mins and growing.
Nothing else was open in TSL, so we walked (fast) to RR and walked right on. It was posted at 10 mins. After that, TOT was posted at 13, so we rode that and the wait was accurate. When we got off, the ride was posted at 30mins and the park had officially opened as it was now 9:01.
Since we rode MMRR and MFSR the night before with relative ease, and having just completed 3 headliners before opening, we took the rest of the day pretty easy. We put in a mobile order at Ronto Roasters as they had immediate availability. On our way over, I hit "here now," and it was "ready" in less than 60 seconds. After enjoying our breakfast, we stopped at 2 stores on our way out of the park (no wait, hardly any people). We took the boat back to YC. Later, we returned to ride ROTR at 1. We waitee about 15 mins but of course, it was AMAZING!
DHS part 2 - Not much new to report as we followed our previous protocol. We wanted ride MMRR at pre-RD, but the CM told us that they would open closer to 9. This was also the case for the other rides in TSL. We went to Starbucks for a quick snack since we had already ridden (?) everything we wanted on Monday. After our 10 min coffee stop, MMRR was open and we walked right on. After, we headed to TSL and did TSMM with a posted 10 min wait, which was accurate. Then, we walked over to aliens which was posted 10, but was also a walk on. From there, we took the back entrance to GE as our BG had been called earlier. We walked right on and there was hardly anyone in our group as we went through the experience. After that, most lines were posted 40-75 minutes so we headed out.
EPCOT (3/16). Pre-Rope Drop from IG. We were held at the temp check. We watched the first boat of the day dock and off board, then they finally let us in around 10:10. Temp check was a little slower at EP than at DHS. We hightailed it over to SOARIN' which was posted at a 15 min. wait, which was accurate. When we got off, the line was snaking through the land pavilion. Frozen and TT were open at pre-RD, but we were not interested in waiting. We probably could have done Frozen with about a 30 min wait at about 10:50, but we were hungry and headed to mexico instead. We stopped at the F&G booth in mexico, and got chips and guac from the cantina. We watched Mickey and friends drive by in a cavalcade and then headed to do Gran Fiesta Tour (one of our favorites). The line was at the door of the pyramid and we waited about 10 mins until we finally reached the start of the line for the attraction. We waited about 5 mins from there. We shared a boat with one other small party. The CM made the 3 adults share one row in the front, which I appreciated, as we were placed in row 4. After the ride, the line to get in the pyramid stretched down the walkway. The frozen line was deep into China 30 mins after opening.
We then traveled through WS, stopping occasionally for snacks. Lines at the booths moved quickly and we were always able to find a shady spot to sit. There were definitely some choke points, followed by random open spots, but it felt crowded. By the time we made it to France at about 1:45, there were tons of people. All of the rides had long lines, which had begun at park open and grew ever since. We took this as a sign to leave so we walked back to our resort.
General Thoughts from our 6 days at WDW during the first "sold out" spring break week:
- Getting to a park exactly ONE HOUR before opening is key to having a successful day. Knock off 2 (maybe 3 with a party of quick moving adults) E-Ticket attractions before opening, then plan to do 2 or 3 "lesser rides" immediately after. We headed back to our resort after 2-3 hours of morning touring and felt like we accomplished most of what we wanted.
- Park Hopping and waiting in line for one "big ticket" ride in the evening really helped us to do everything we wanted. We waited 35 mins (posted 50) for 7dmt post dinner, and waited 15 for MMRR (posted 30) using the same strategy. That way, we didn't have to worry about those rides when we pre-RD'd the next morning.
- Make ADRs asap! At least for every other night of your stay, as food is hard to find (especially a filling dinner that isn't a burger). Mobile order your lunch when you walk in the park.
- Mask/safety compliance and general guest attitudes are at its peak early in the day. Weekends were the absolute worst for compliance. We saw some CMs tell people to wear their masks properly during the week, but we never once saw that happen on the weekend. Evenings tend to be a little iffy as well, but the weekends were terrible.
- Lines build very quickly at EPCOT, even during pre-RD. Set your expectations low.
- Staying within walking distance to the parks made it possible to be at the parks early without any hassle. It also allowed us to leave when we were "done" with the crowds and pop back in in the evening.
- Touring Plans were very accurate and saved us a lot of time and stress.
- CMs were generally pleasant.
- YC pool was crowded most of the time that we were there. The CMs escort you to your assigned chairs. Sometimes there was a line to get in. The quiet pool was chill and had plenty of space.
BLT and Contemporary pool had better physical distancing and you could sit where you wanted. I didn't feel like I was on top of others like I did at YC.
We have a half day left and then we head out tomorrow at noon. We took Tiffany Town Car for the first time, since we didn't want to use mass transit this trip. We will definitely use them again.
We have a trip planned with another family in July. I'm glad I was able to do a "test run" of "Covid touring" before planning a trip for/with others. We will be back at the YC (their choice), but if it were up to me, I would stay someplace a little more "tame." YC used to be our favorite, but our experience over the weekend (previous post) left a bad taste in my mouth. BLT/CR seemed to be better able to absorb the crowds and support physical distancing in all of it's areas. BLT/CR also seemed to have more CMs around which helped, I'm sure.
Overall, it was a great trip, but if I didn't already have another trip booked, I don't think I would go again in 2021 (which I thought I would NEVER say). Although touring is doable, I miss FP and Park Hopping without restrictions. I miss having *some* day of ADR availability for spontaneity's sake. I'm hoping some version of those things come back in the months ahead.
This is definitely one thing I’ve enjoyed about recent trips.
I do find there are lots of snack carts around once they open and it isnt too onerous to get something.
