Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[Earningmywings]

Are the car design stations available in the Test Track que? Or have they closed that portion like most of the other interactive que stuff?

 

[MinnieMSue]

I already talked about Epcot yesterday and how we were mostly ahead of the crowds by doing world showcase first then going back to future world. Today we went to MK. Pop had multiple busses taking people to MK when we got to the stop at 8 so almost no wait. They opened the main rides at 8:30 - thunder space Peter Pan and 7 D. We did thunder the. Had to wait on a shady bench for splash to open which was a walk-on. Haunted mansion also a walk on as was small world and Pan was a constantly moving line that took little time although it was long going toward tangled restrooms - posted 25 but was 10. Went to carousel which said 10 but was longer. Had to ride it - our first time and my daughter had the carousel ears which are just beautiful. Somehow they put us in the row with the special horse (Cinderella’s??) and we didn’t realize it until after my daughter was on the horse. She liked the flowers on its neck. I then looked back and noticed the gold in its tail! She said it was the magic of her ears. Also the employee seating people complimented her ears - although they seated us I. The row in order so prob coincidence. Anyway. Then carpets of Aladdin was walkon and we had a couple minutes before our food was ready at Pecos Bill. At 11 all the seats were pretty full. They let people sit down before they had their food and that meant lots standing holding trays. Very disappointed that they didn’t make people have food before sitting. Pirate ride said 50 min but was only 20. They were measuring and placing masking tape to extend the queue down toward jungle cruise direction. We were surprised how fast that crazy line went. Jungle cruise said 45 and was 15. Got an I lava you float and then to Buzz which was 18 min with posted 20. Then to space mountain. This was the brutal wait of the day. It was like being on a candy land game board all through tomorrow land. You started near the front of the ride but went all around the stage and back in the normal extended queue by the face painting before going inside. Most all in direct sun. We hit the first of what was to be many cleaning cycles while near the stage and it was bad. Posted 40 min and actual 45. Carousel of progress line was long but shorter than previous but hit another cleaning cycle so it took a long long long time. Didn’t check my watch unfortunately. Got in line for 7 D but closed it after a bit due to weather. Short wait for Pooh. 25 min wait for philharmagic. We just missed a show and were first to be positioned to go into the next one. Line for 7d again and moving fast but closed again for storm. Never got on it that day but don’t like it that much anyway. just missed hall of presidents so did country bears. Then just missed hall of presidents again lol. Ended up hanging out waiting for our 6:45 BOG. At 8:15 MK was a raining beautiful empty park. Walked to pop bus and they again had nonstop busses coming. Took just a few minutes to get on and head back to our resort. Overall it was a great day. .

 

[elsbit]

Are the car design stations available in the Test Track que? Or have they closed that portion like most of the other interactive que stuff?

No, they were not available. However, they did have some screens on running the video of making a car in various languages, so you could see what the activity looked like. It was not interactive.

 

[Dentam]

Best Relaxation Station goes to Akershus-great AC,tables for enjoying a snack and a "private" Restroom.

Agreed! We loved that relaxation station yesterday and there were only a few other people in it while we were there so it was very socially distanced inside.

 

[edmartin]

Hi I hv a question ... are u DVC owners? Just curious if u did anything special to get that upgrade?

We are DVC owners (since 2000). We didn't do anything special and didn't ask for an upgrade... it just happened. We did online check-inn and during our drive down to WDW from North Carolina our room was assigned. No indication of an upgrade. We went direct to the room once we arrived, opened the door with the app and it wasn't until then that we realized we had been upgraded.

 

[erinch]

It is testimony to the general perversity of human nature test those are the only 2 MK QS I want!

At mk the only counter service that's not open is Casey's and harbor house. You can ask for water in all the open ones, Starbucks and first aid

 

[chicagoshannon]

We're headed to slot today but not until late afternoon. Hoping crowds will thin by then.

 

[yulilin3]

It is testimony to the general perversity of human nature test those are the only 2 MK QS I want!

I miss the tuna sandwich from CHH and corn dog nuggets from Casey's for sure

 

[JFDIS]

I’m still questioning how Casey’s and CHH got skipped by Pinocchio Village haus?

 

[edmartin]

Report from Sunday 9/7 at Magic Kingdom...

I know that many are reading these posts trying to understand what it's like here. Every poster (including me) is going to have their unique take on things. And everyone has their personal tolerance on things related to coronavirus. I will try to write as unbiased (in any direction) as possible. But a few things...

Even at "full capacity", the parks are at about 30%. So no matter what, it feels extremely more empty than pretty much any other time you may have visited. But if less than one third of what you've experienced before is still going to be "more crowded than you'd like", you probably shouldn't come to Disney World. At least not on Labor Day weekend.

If you are expecting 100% compliance on masks 100% of the time and are upset when it doesn't happen, you're going to be disappointed. Here or anywhere. Personally, my observation & feeling is that guests are doing a very good job of abiding by the rules here (we have been to Epcot & MK so far on Saturday & Sunday respectively). But there are going to be exceptions. I also think the cast members are doing an excellent job of trying to patrol and enforce the rules. To me, it is has been extremely rare to see someone without a mask on when they should have it on. And it's VERY easy to stay 6, 10 or 50 feet away from people as you walk around this place.

On to the MK report...

Lines are very short (relatively). The "big hitters" never went more than an hour and many rides never went over 15 minutes. Mine Train said it was going to be 50 minutes and it was spot on - including a shut-down when the cast was cleaning all of the ride vehicles (which seemed like a scheduled break). Others like Space Mountain and Peter Pan were less than the 30 & 45 minutes estimates. The only time things got backed up was when it rained. We could hear thunder so the outdoor rides were all shut down.

The spread-out queues are pretty well done. In places like Splash Mountain where they designed a huge area for lines, it's great. But for something like Buzz Lightyear, it can get a little funky. The line for Buzz started in front of Monsters Inc. And when you got to the "normal" section, the 6-foot markers on the ground were kind of a cluster because of how they move chains based on queue size. But guests seem to be doing a good job of spacing themselves out. Just expect to take a bit of personal responsibility. It's not hard. You have 1 group ahead of you and 1 behind you. You can work it out and have a lot of fun chatting with your queue-neighbors.

Well, there was one exception. When the skies opened, I made the comment to my wife that social distancing was the most important thing in the world to many people... until it starts to rain. ;-). As you would expect, people ran for cover wherever it could be found.

The "pop up parades" are really fun. All of a sudden, a band or a float will show up. It's random and it's fun to see. I hope this is something that they end up keeping in the future even when the big parades come back.

We ate at Pecos Bill's. It wasn't planned... we were just in the area when we decided it was time to eat. We ordered online in the app. We were standing on the porch as we were ordering. A cast member came up to us and said that we were welcome to come inside to complete the order if we wanted to get out of the heat. Food was great and prepared quickly. We had no trouble finding a table inside (it was about 1:30 when we ate) and they have the tables spaced and/or closed-off very well to provide distancing.

The strangest part of the day was when we decided to leave the park and try out the new lounge (Enchanted Rose) over at the Grand Floridian. It reported that it was open even though the Grand Floridian remains closed (DVC is open and the NBA is using some of the buildings for teams... but they aren't allowed out). So we took the monorail. Walking into a relatively-empty Grand Floridian was surreal. We've spent a lot of time in that hotel since our honeymoon there 30 years ago. But it had a "Hotel California"... or maybe even a "Tower of Terror" vibe to it (no, we did not get on the elevator! ;-)). Almost nobody in the lobby and everything closed... except Enchanted Rose! Which was great.

One last thing on ordering... QR codes are a big(ger) thing now. Pinocchio's, for example, had a big sign-board out front enticing guests to order online. Just open the camera app on your phone (iOS and Android both work this way) and it will pick it up. And at Enchanted Rose, they do not have menus out... they have a card on the table with a QR code (English in the front, other languages on the back) that brings up the menu.

Back to Epcot today!...

 

[yulilin3]

@edmartin great report. I call the feel of the GF similar to The Shining, I expect to see Danny in his big wheel turn a corner

 

[emmabelle]

We went to MK this morning. Parked, took the ferry and was in the park by 8:30am. Went right to 7D’s and waited 20 minutes, next to Thunder for basically a walk-on. Next to HM, walk on. Lastly Space for a 20 minute wait. Left after that because the lines were growing long and it was hot. Going back later for dinner and a few rides we missed.

 

[mrd7896]

Animal kingdom today! Arrived at 730, unlike 90 percent of the crowds we went to Kilimanjaro..they didn’t let us on until 8 on the dot but we had a WONDERFUL ride.

then we went over to FoP, posted 60 minute wait and was about 45. We stopped and got some food and coffee and half of our party went to Navi and the other half went back on to FoP. Both were posted 45 minutes-Navi was a little less than 35 and FoP was spot on.

We were going to go to EE at a posted 20 minute wait but we stopped for a bathroom break and to shop and by then it was 45. We decided for dinosaur at a posted 25 and it was just shy of 15.

then over to EE with a wait of 25 and it was also about 15.

did bugs life, ate at Yak and Yet (delicious!!) and did the maharajah jungle trek and was met by a pretty big storm so we headed out!

back to the resort by 3 pm.

 

[dachsie]

I miss the tuna sandwich from CHH and corn dog nuggets from Casey's for sure

You can get the corn dog nuggets at Westward Ho right now.

 

[yulilin3]

You can get the corn dog nuggets at Westward Ho right now.

Is it open though?

 

[dachsie]

Is it open though?

DFB bought some the other day and posted about it

 

[MinnieMSue]

Is it open though?

we saw it open while we were waiting outside Pecos Bill Sunday around 11

 

[Dentam]

We went to AK today and had a really great day. We decided after a long day at Epcot yesterday that we would sleep in a bit and then had a really tasty breakfast at Trattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk (we're staying at BWV and bonus, we can see spaceship earth from our room!) then we lucked out with a bus that pulled up right as we walked out to the bus stop. Had the bus all to ourselves which was a theme that carried on throughout the day and evening for us!

No line to enter the temp check, security, etc at AK when we arrived at 11am. Front of the park was pretty nice and empty. We did Bug's Life first with less than a 10 minute wait, then the Safari with another short wait. Dinosaur was posted at 25 and we waited about 15. We skipped Everest today but are going back on Thursday and plan to ride it then. Watched the bird show in that area which was fun. Waited until the last hour and a half of the evening to do the attractions in Pandora and were able to ride Navi with a 15 minute wait and Flight of Passage twice in a row with the wait being about ten minutes the first time and just the time it took to walk through the line the second time.

Since AK closed at 6, we went over to the WL and ate dinner at Geyser Point - highly recommend this place for excellent food and a nice outdoor area to dine in. Took a bus afterward to DS to transfer directly to a bus to BWV. One note is that they made us go through the temp check at DS even though all we wanted to do was get onto another bus. Kind of silly, but at least there was no wait to do so.

HS tomorrow - looking forward to seeing Galaxy's Edge for the first time and hopefully having good luck with RotR! I snagged us a reservation at Oga's for after park closing also so looking forward to seeing that new area at night.

One final note - mask compliance was better at AK today then Epcot yesterday. It was cooler today also with a nice breeze on and off which helped a lot I'm sure.

 

[pepperandchips]

I’m taking advantage of one of my work perks by being able to “work from home” from anywhere. This week it’s in Orlando. Heavy traffic down from Atlanta today and arrived to my off property accommodations around 6:00pm, and was parked and walking toward Epcot at 7:00 pm. There weren’t any CMs at the parking booths when I arrived and I drove up to Amaze 30 and enjoyed a super short walk into the park.

There was no one else going in at all. Epcot was dreamy tonight - very sparse attendance and the late afternoon storms had cleared a lot of the humidity and the weather was very pleasant. Oh and Islands of the Caribbean booth was open!!! I was so happy. I don’t know the latest with this one but I was dying to try the flancocho and it was SO worth it. I didn’t do any rides, but my only real line to speak of was at the France booth when there were maybe 5 parties in front of me. I got a little choked up thinking about how it would be my last real Epcot after dark experience for a while because of the shift in the hours.

I did confirm with the CM at Impressions de France that once the hours change tomorrow that the BatB show will switch over to Impressions earlier in the day. I think she said around 5:00.

I hit Mousegear on my way out and it was busy-ish but I was still able to stay distant. I picked up my Figment rocks glasses and some AP pins. Lots of rainbow merch still available 30% off and Halloween stuff fairly well stocked. Several cast who saw my reusable shopping bag on the way out thanked me for shopping and coming No problem, this fool and her money are easily parted.

 

[MonorailPrincess]

We went to AK today and had a really great day. We decided after a long day at Epcot yesterday that we would sleep in a bit and then had a really tasty breakfast at Trattoria al Forno at the Boardwalk (we're staying at BWV and bonus, we can see spaceship earth from our room!) then we lucked out with a bus that pulled up right as we walked out to the bus stop. Had the bus all to ourselves which was a theme that carried on throughout the day and evening for us!

No line to enter the temp check, security, etc at AK when we arrived at 11am. Front of the park was pretty nice and empty. We did Bug's Life first with less than a 10 minute wait, then the Safari with another short wait. Dinosaur was posted at 25 and we waited about 15. We skipped Everest today but are going back on Thursday and plan to ride it then. Watched the bird show in that area which was fun. Waited until the last hour and a half of the evening to do the attractions in Pandora and were able to ride Navi with a 15 minute wait and Flight of Passage twice in a row with the wait being about ten minutes the first time and just the time it took to walk through the line the second time.

Since AK closed at 6, we went over to the WL and ate dinner at Geyser Point - highly recommend this place for excellent food and a nice outdoor area to dine in. Took a bus afterward to DS to transfer directly to a bus to BWV. One note is that they made us go through the temp check at DS even though all we wanted to do was get onto another bus. Kind of silly, but at least there was no wait to do so.

HS tomorrow - looking forward to seeing Galaxy's Edge for the first time and hopefully having good luck with RotR! I snagged us a reservation at Oga's for after park closing also so looking forward to seeing that new area at night.

One final note - mask compliance was better at AK today then Epcot yesterday. It was cooler today also with a nice breeze on and off which helped a lot I'm sure.

Always wanted to try Geyser Point, I think we'll check it out during our stay later this month. How does QS work at the resorts? Just like the parks, where you have to order a head of time on the app?