We just got back. May 2-11, stayed at Pop. Made park reservations for all parks, 2 days each. Had at least 1 ADR each day.
Whoever said that you forget you're wearing a mask while in the parks must have been there in cooler weather. We usually go in early May and have had great luck with temps, but not this time. It was over 90 degrees every day except 2 (84 & 86) and unbearably humid. We are park open to close people, never take breaks - this time we HAD to. Most of the time we left the parks at around 2/3 and went back after 6.
Cast members were awesome - did not see a grumpy CM our entire stay.
Housekeeping - I am one of those who do not want housekeeping at all during our stay. This time I asked for the towels/trash service every other day. No problem except my niece had an accident and needed the sheets changed. I called down twice but kept getting push back and saying they did not provide that service. I caught a manager when we were going to the pool. He said it was no problem but the housekeeper really did not want to do it, she called the manager to "confirm" with him. They could have just left the sheets and we would have done it
I really like mobile ordering but it seemed like some places were overwhelmed and people clustered right outside the doors waiting to be called up. Order early and hit the "I'm here" button on your way there - not when you get there.
Got Rise on our 2 DHS days. Set up my alarm for 6:50, I hit the first join button (on the
MDE home page) and waited. When 7 hit I refreshed the page (pulled down on the page) and just hit the join buttons - did not look at anything other than that join button!
On May 4 (which I thought would be the really tough one) I got BG 22 (120 minutes). We had to be there by 10:24. The Skyliner line was crazy that day but we made it. Second DHS day I got us BG 46 (280 minutes).
We did Smugglers Run about an hour before park closing and had no wait. Slinky as always had an hour or more line. MMRRhad a huge line early but had a 15-20 minute wait after 5pm - same with TSM.
DHS seriously needs more shade. TSL and GE are frying pans. The restroom in TSL has some benches that get a nice breeze and are in the shade.
We went opposite the crowds at AK and started at Dinosaur. Then we did the carnival games at Dinoland where my daughter won one game and my husband won another - we got 2 really cute dino plushies as prizes. Everest was a walk on, we did the zoom photo, and some PP photos by Y&Y that came out great. We did the safari after 1pm and it was so hot I did not think we would see any animals - we had a great ride.Tons of animals, the hippos were out of the water!
We did FoP once each day, the line was constantly moving and it was a decent 30-40 minute wait - this was after 3pm. Na'vi River was 20 minutes at opening one day, 40 the second. We rode it once in the afternoon with a 15 min. wait.
We did lunch at Y&Y (Landry's card), our other lunch was Satuli Canteen which was as good as everyone says. I got the big Mickey cinnamon roll at Kusafiri and shared it with DD as a quick breakfast.
MK was busier than I had hoped - pretty much everything had a half hour or more wait, even Dumbo. But it was really nice after the sun went down. Everything was a walk on and it cooled down alot! Wish they had been open later.
We went to Skipper and I liked it but not as much as I had hoped.
Epcot was fine, did all the rides without too much of a wait. TT was the only one that got over an hour. The Frozen ride needs to get rid of the plexiglass - it was all smudges, water and foggy.
Got a Figment shirt - could not find anything with Orange Bird other than the cup (which I got). They had the scavenger hunt, prizes were the tumblers.
The one thing about Epcot - after dark the drunks are everywhere. I had a girl fall face first right in front of me. A CM saw her and asked if she needed help, the girl could not even talk. She had blood on her lip and a guy picked her and said they just needed the exit - they were in the American pavilion so who knows how long it took them to find it! Another group (they looked like a dance group) was running around, screaming about finishing up their drinking around the world competition. DH had to pick up one of my niece's who was a little too close to them so she would not get run over.
DS was very busy on the 2 Sundays we went - arrival day had Boathouse ADR, Mother's day had Homecomin' brunch. Boathouse was good but service was super slow. Homecomin' was as good as everyone says it is and I had a hack of a time deciding what to get. My mom and I split a Hummingbird cake and it was the best thing I ate all trip!
Gideon's had a 4 hour wait on Mother's day when we got there at 10:30am. We walked/shopped/brunch and got the text! Then we waited in line another 15 minutes. My mom wanted the breakfast cookie and they still had some. We also got a chocolate chip, cookies & cream, and the espresso/on special.
One of my nieces and I went on a Tuesday night for a hours and it was very nice. Not crowded, nice breeze. We had a light dinner at Chicken Guy - it was pretty good, loved all the sauce options. We waited less than 10 minutes to get inside and order.
Glad we went but will wait to go back until masks are not required. It was like a sauna on my face. My face broke out like crazy!
