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

[Dicentras]

Funny..for our last 3 trips to MK in February by mid day there were always long lines at small world. I don't know if walk on rides exist anymore!? Will be interested to see what it is like this February!

We had an amazing, likely never to be repeated evening last week (Monday) with a ton of walk on rides. Small world, Ariel, space mountain even! I think it was a combo of an early evening rain plus no fireworks to draw the big crowds back. It was so fun!

 

[olive]

Oh man, that'd be great. Our boarding group at HS yesterday wasn't called until 2ish (the time we usually try to avoid the parks) and the sun/heat and crowds were bad. The area where you walk into Galaxy's Edge near Star Tours was full of people sitting and laying down because it was the only shaded area around. We went on Rise then went right back to the hotel. I've never done only 1 ride all day in all my trips to Disney.

It is so weird!!! Maybe by our next visit. I mean. Probably not tomorrow, but the next next one.

 

[yorkieteacher]

I live in Florida and none of my family has had this rash. Could it be prickly heat or “no see um” bites?

No, it's actually vasculitis, as PP said, where small capillaries in your ankles/calves break from being on your feet so much in the heat and humidity when you are not use to it. For most it looks like a rash, for some it has looked like bruises or burns! Mine hasn't itched, but for some it's itchy and painful. If you live in the area you are most likely well acquainted with heat and humidity! Also more common in people over 50, so if you are younger there's that! I walk lots and tour lots of places, and I think I am more affected by the humidity than the heat. We joked about leaving the resort lobby and walking into the "soup" every day!

 

[yorkieteacher]

Is it worth getting the lines app at this point or is the MDE getting more accurate with less covid restrictions?

On our trip last week I found the Lines app more accurate than MDE, except once or twice, when suddenly big groups descended on the line at MMRR and TSMM just before we got in line. The Lines app "caught up" shortly after. I wasn't taking the time to report, but some surely were.

 

[Chernabob]

I have used the lines app for several years, and have even suggested it to many other people. We just got back from our trip yesterday and it performed absolutely miserably. Way off on crowd level predictions. The new user interface is much more user unfriendly than the previous version of the app. I would not purchase at this time. The wait times For the rides that are posted on MDE are much more accurate than the lines app at this point, and usually come in a tad bit shorter than the posted time. I don’t recall any time over the last week getting a wait time on the app that actually turned out to be longer once we got in line.

I just wanted to add that I was disappointed in the accuracy of the Lines app too. It wasn't way off, but by the end of my recent trip, I'd quit using it as a reliable estimate of wait times. Just stuck with MDE.

I did like the user interface though, and the timer function is nice.

So if you're on the fence, you can get by without it.

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Rope dropping MK now and literally everything we’ve tried is closed…Pirates, splash, haunted mansion. I couldn’t tell if Thunder was down because the crowd was so thick I couldn’t get near the entrance.

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Well that’s a first…just rope dropped Small World.

 

[Leigh L]

Well that’s a first…just rope dropped Small World.

We did that once last year! First in line

 

[chad_1138]

We did that once last year! First in line

 

[ColoradoMom12]

I have the Lines app and like others have found it rather inaccurate this trip. I don’t like the new design. It seems much less user-friendly, but maybe I just don’t like change!

One of our favorite things to do in line is to check the estimated wait time in the Lines app and the Disney app and then make our own prediction. We start a timer as we get in line and stop it just as we’re about to get on the ride. It’s kind of a fun activity, lol. We were guessing pretty accurately yesterday at HS. Our longest wait was for the Aliens (40 minutes), which seemed to be because they were cleaning the ride?? Do they still do this? The line stopped moving completely, the ride wasn’t running, but no one came out to tell us the ride was down. Unfortunately we were in the direct sun for this wait, which was pretty uncomfortable. At least without FP, the lines move pretty much continuously with no long waits so getting stuck in the direct sun isn’t too awful because the line keeps moving.

 

[ww52]

All this talk on this thread is making me nervous / frustrated and we're not even there yet.

I have to wonder if Disney is facing a real staffing shortage. I would assume that's part of it. That they can't handle the crowd levels they've increased to.

I heard from someone we know who just came back that despite ADRs, they waited sometimes 30 minutes for a table. And their group was not very large.

Regarding Lines - the main reason we bought a subscription (which in fairness is pretty cheap) was to put in our plans for attractions and let it optimize for us. That worked great in 2018.

But without fast passes, it's very different. and if their wait times are noticeably inaccurate, it's essentially worthless. Add to that what many are saying regarding ride closures (which SOUND like it's more of an issue than normal) and we may be in for a rather frustrating several days.

The issue for me is there is at least one rather vocal person who has said many times she thinks going this year is a mistake. The negativity our group of 11 may encounter from this one person - in addition to the frustration plus having 4 kids plus the normal heat and thunderstorms - will be challenging.

 

[penel3]

Regarding Lines - the main reason we bought a subscription (which in fairness is pretty cheap) was to put in our plans for attractions and let it optimize for us. That worked great in 2018.

I have always used their website faithfully for selecting which park, which day (crowd calendar) now I am panicking because I 100% committed my park picks in late August/early September on their crowd calendar

 

[Sarahslay]

I have always used their website faithfully for selecting which park, which day (crowd calendar) now I am panicking because I 100% committed my park picks in late August/early September on their crowd calendar

I'm there at the same time, and I have been 6 times already since reopening at varying times while using their site to plan. Now, it's not always accurate, but all of my trips have been awesome, and I've still felt I picked the right park on the right day. I have been watching room availability onsite, and compared it to my most recent stay (3 weeks ago, where honestly there was hardly any rooms left at all), and unless most of the people coming to the parks are staying offsite you should be fine. I always look at how many hotels still have availability, and how many room categories are still available at each as more of a gauge of how busy it will be and I'm not worried at all. I know in March YC was FULL, as were almost all the other resorts, and we were still fine, same with the trip we just had. I know they are taking attendance back to normal more or less, but I do think a lot of the crowds are still waiting to come until the 50th, there is much less room availability then anyway (I had several rooms in my cart become unavailable as I went to check out, in minutes, gone). I wouldn't panic too much.

 

[Mousefan mom]

All this talk on this thread is making me nervous / frustrated and we're not even there yet.

I have to wonder if Disney is facing a real staffing shortage. I would assume that's part of it. That they can't handle the crowd levels they've increased to.

I heard from someone we know who just came back that despite ADRs, they waited sometimes 30 minutes for a table. And their group was not very large.

Regarding Lines - the main reason we bought a subscription (which in fairness is pretty cheap) was to put in our plans for attractions and let it optimize for us. That worked great in 2018.

But without fast passes, it's very different. and if their wait times are noticeably inaccurate, it's essentially worthless. Add to that what many are saying regarding ride closures (which SOUND like it's more of an issue than normal) and we may be in for a rather frustrating several days.

The issue for me is there is at least one rather vocal person who has said many times she thinks going this year is a mistake. The negativity our group of 11 may encounter from this one person - in addition to the frustration plus having 4 kids plus the normal heat and thunderstorms - will be challenging.

I am a bit concerned too--if it were just hubby and me, I wouldn't worry...but we are traveling with our 3 teens/tweens who got very accustomed to FP, dining plans, etc. We purchased travel insurance, and I am still waiting to see before we go--because this trip is a huge investment for us (don't mean to sound negative at all), but am wondering if it makes sense to wait for the cost of the money. The frequent rides going down does make me rethink...

 

[dreamit]

7:22 departed AKL Jambo bus stop. Bus happened to be there when we walked up
7:45 thru security, tapstiles and waiting at space rope (didn’t try for 7dmt rope since we were lateish)
8:00 rope drop walk and caught up to the CMs.
8:05 on space
8:20 enter Peter Pan queue 5 min wait actually 20
Stopped for coffee and donut holes on our walk to BTMR
Note splash was closed for a few hours this am
915 entered queue posted wait 20 mins and was fairly accurate
Walked back and did buzz 2x and mobile ordered dole whips
Splash opened sometime late morning but we departed to rest and miss the rain. Picking up cake at GF and heading to CG for dinner tonight debating park plans later
Tomorrow is our first shot for ROTR

Where did you find donut holes?

 

[LiamsDISMom]

Just a note of clarification, buses have not been picking up at resorts 90 mins before park opening since before March 2020.

90 mins is the recommended time you want to be at the bus stop if you want to be on one of the first buses to the park.

In May 2021 at Saratoga every day there was a first bus to each park 90 minutes (give or take maybe 10 minutes at most) before opening. Also know for sure it has been the same at Caribbean Beach as well in both May and June of this year. It was not this way in September of 2020 however at Wilderness Lodge.

 

[LeslieLou]

Where did you find donut holes?

At the small stationary refreshment stand on the main walk in front of btmr

 

[Jennyonecoin]

I am a bit concerned too--if it were just hubby and me, I wouldn't worry...but we are traveling with our 3 teens/tweens who got very accustomed to FP, dining plans, etc. We purchased travel insurance, and I am still waiting to see before we go--because this trip is a huge investment for us (don't mean to sound negative at all), but am wondering if it makes sense to wait for the cost of the money. The frequent rides going down does make me rethink...

We were there just last week and l cannot recall (ever) the amount of rides going down nearly every single day! Many were when it was nice out so not weather related. Just off the top of my head l can recall: slinky dog, rise of resistance, runaway railway, splash, big thunder, jungle cruise.

l do not recall any being down in animal kingdom and we decided to skip Epcot and double up at Hollywood due to all the construction.

 

[LeslieLou]

HS today
7:00 Rise boarding pass 49 achieved
7:30 at bus stop at AKL
7:42 first bus
8:05 tapping through
We were maybe 50 ft from the slinky rope on Main Street
8:30 rope walk starts
8:55 Off slinky
9:00 board TSMM - 10 min posted wait was pretty much walk on
9:20 Walked to rockin rollercoaster and joined single rider line which was a walk on. Main ride had 60 min posted wait
My son doesn’t like to ride tower of terror so we skipped that
9:45 rode star tours 35 min posted wait took 15 or so
10:20 single rider line for MFSR. Posted 80 min wait and took about 20 mins
Bummed around until we could pick up lunch at 11:20
Watched muppet vision to kill time for Savi rez at 12:25
Ducked from the rain and waited for Rise to operate
1:30ish star disappears from map and we walk out from tunnel to rise queue. I knew the ride was opening before the CMs did. Son and I were first in and no one was behind us. Neat to walk through empty queue and the ride was fantastic.
2:00 caught bus - efficient day for the most part!

 

[cdurham1]

Well that’s a first…just rope dropped Small World.

I don't know whether to congratulate or console you. . At least you will have that memory for years!