Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[JohnR5101]

Recent HS goers..

what gives? Did ToT open another elevator or did loading every row make that much of r difference. For months ToT has run 60+ minutes most of the day…. I’ve been seeing it as low as 20 minutes mid day!!!! Exciting as we were going to rope drop SDD and skip ToT, but now maybe I can ride both!

Yes ToT line was very reasonable most of the time. We did it our first day at HS and it was about 50 min (I consider that long) but 2 other times it was like 20 min and 5 min (during the last hour).

 

[Castlequeen5]

Today we arrived at HM at 8:10 for a 9:00 opening. They opened up at 8:18. We went straight back to ToT and walked right on. Then we went next door to RnR with a 5 minute wait. Then we headed to MMRR and waited about 25 minutes. When we got off, it was 9:18 and the park was officially open.

We headed over to Star Tours with a 15 minute wait. And then our boarding group for ROTR was called (BG 28). We walked right on to that. When that ride was finished, we went on to MFSR. By the time we got off that it was 12 and time for lunch.

So this is what we were able to do before noon:
Tower of Terror- walk-on
Rock n Roller- 5 minutes
Mickey & Minnie Runaway Rail- 25 minutes
Star Tours- 15 minutes (MDE listed it as 5)
Rise of the Resistance- walk-on
Smugglers Run- 70 minutes (MDE listed it as 50)

We had a great morning! Our longest wait was MFSR, and it was our last ride of the morning. Before we got in that line, we grabbed Cokes and blue milk. It was nice to be able to drink those while waiting in the outside part of the line.

We put in our mobile order for Woody’s Lunchbox this morning on the bus. They only allow guest in the seating area who have an order ready. So there were plenty of clean tables available. Since Toy Story Land is not very shady, I prefer to be there in the evening. After a break at the resort, we’ll come back to Toy Story later.

 

[DSLRuser]

Just had a great 5 night stay May 27 to June 1 at boardwalk. Arrived at 10pm Thursday night

We rope dropped The Studios Friday the 28th. Did not get the 7am rise pass. They opened security and the main entry at 8:15am for a 9am open time. We did mickeys run away train, rocking, tower of terror (both sides open) by 9:30am. Did smugglers run and by 11:00am we were at the Base line tap house eating lunch. Decided to walk back to boardwalk and were poolside by 1pm. Where I got a #189 reserve rise pass. Headed to Epcot for dinner in France at 5:40, and towards the end of dinner 7:00.....our number was called. We had a great server and we left France at 7:05. Took the skyline to the studios and were off rise by 7:50. Got in line for slinky dog with a 60 minute wait at 7:58. We got off the ride at 8:40 and walked to Board walk.

Slept in Saturday, and went to animal kingdom. arrived by 9:30ish......and rode dinosaur, Everest, the raft ride, had lunch at mr kimals and zureys, before a nice 45 minute wait at 2pm for flight of passage. Made it back to the boardwalk pool by 3:30 for a quick swim before an 8:10 dinner at topolinos.

Sunday we got a rise pass at 7am...made it to the studios for rope drop again. this time security opened at 8am and the main gates at 8:15. Did TSMWM and A saucers.....then the CARS show.....I bought a legacy light saber, and we were back at the pool by 1pm. Hit EPCOT by 5 and ate around the world till close. Rode frozen at 9:50.

Monday we slept in, and hit the MK at 10am. Had dinner at cinderella royal table at 5:10 and closed the park down at 9pm.

Flew home 11L30am Tuesday morning.

Random notes.....it was weird...dont know if I was just looking or what...but I noticed many more cast members with tattoos everywhere. I guess they just really hid them before.

Still hope fast pass + never comes back. Even on a holiday weekend...never thought the parks were "crowded" and we got to see and do what we expected.

I hate masks....but I tend to follow the rules. 20% of the people in lines just won't mask up and dont follow the distance marks. I really dont care about the masks....but do like my space.

And people at the resort bus stops are just rude as ever. We walked up and missed the bis to MK because it was full. No biggie we waited at the curb behind another family. As other walk up to the station, they see us there and just mill about the pavilion. the bus pulls up and as soon as the driver starts assigning numbers 2 families of 6 jump on the bus back door. I sort of lost it. "sir, are you that stupid to see a line has formed"...he just looked at me with a black stare....."yes, you in the blue polo shirt with the red shoes, I am talking to you. Do you think you are better then us and dont have to wait in line"

He got on the bus and I stared him down and kept yelling passive aggressive remarks his direction the entire bus ride. I know it is childish...but it makes me feel better....somebody has to stand up to inconsiderate people of the world.

 

[jbish]

We ordered from Trattoria al Forno as a to-go order before we headed into Epcot for pick up at 9:50 pm. We have the bruchetta, lasagna and the gnocchi. The bruchetta was soggy but the lasagna was good and my DD loved the gnocchi. I was disappointed that they didn't throw in a bread service that we would normally get at an Italian restaurant. Many local restaurants include a few pieces of bread and some butter when I order a meal to go.

...

I bought these mask lanyards: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H85M69L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and they were great! I'm so happy I read here about mask lanyards. They really helped a lot to keep the mask handy for the constant on and off of masks. My DD21 said she didn't want to use one and then within her first hour in the park she attached one, LOL.

Super helpful review!! Thank you!

Question on to-go ordering, do you need to have already have a reservation to order to-go? In your Trattoria al Forno example, did you already have an ADR for the restaurant and just chose not to eat inside? We are staying at BWV for a few days on our trip, but have not had any luck with ADRs, so this would be a great option. There are a couple of ADRs during our stay but they're all past 9 pm, which is way too late for my family.

And thanks for the recommendation on the lanyards! I was going to make some, but these are a great price. So thanks for saving me from buying way more material than I need to make 5 of these! LOL

 

[pixidustmom]

It's been 5 years since I've been to WDW. I also haven't kept up with all the changes as I haven't had any plans until now. So I am here soaking up as much as I can. Thanks for sharing everyone.

 

[MomOTwins]

Just had a great 5 night stay May 27 to June 1 at boardwalk. Arrived at 10pm Thursday night

We rope dropped The Studios Friday the 28th. Did not get the 7am rise pass. They opened security and the main entry at 8:15am for a 9am open time. We did mickeys run away train, rocking, tower of terror (both sides open) by 9:30am. Did smugglers run and by 11:00am we were at the Base line tap house eating lunch. Decided to walk back to boardwalk and were poolside by 1pm. Where I got a #189 reserve rise pass. Headed to Epcot for dinner in France at 5:40, and towards the end of dinner 7:00.....our number was called. We had a great server and we left France at 7:05. Took the skyline to the studios and were off rise by 7:50. Got in line for slinky dog with a 60 minute wait at 7:58. We got off the ride at 8:40 and walked to Board walk.

Slept in Saturday, and went to animal kingdom. arrived by 9:30ish......and rode dinosaur, Everest, the raft ride, had lunch at mr kimals and zureys, before a nice 45 minute wait at 2pm for flight of passage. Made it back to the boardwalk pool by 3:30 for a quick swim before an 8:10 dinner at topolinos.

Sunday we got a rise pass at 7am...made it to the studios for rope drop again. this time security opened at 8am and the main gates at 8:15. Did TSMWM and A saucers.....then the CARS show.....I bought a legacy light saber, and we were back at the pool by 1pm. Hit EPCOT by 5 and ate around the world till close. Rode frozen at 9:50.

Monday we slept in, and hit the MK at 10am. Had dinner at cinderella royal table at 5:10 and closed the park down at 9pm.

Flew home 11L30am Tuesday morning.

Random notes.....it was weird...dont know if I was just looking or what...but I noticed many more cast members with tattoos everywhere. I guess they just really hid them before.

Still hope fast pass + never comes back. Even on a holiday weekend...never thought the parks were "crowded" and we got to see and do what we expected.

I hate masks....but I tend to follow the rules. 20% of the people in lines just won't mask up and dont follow the distance marks. I really dont care about the masks....but do like my space.

And people at the resort bus stops are just rude as ever. We walked up and missed the bis to MK because it was full. No biggie we waited at the curb behind another family. As other walk up to the station, they see us there and just mill about the pavilion. the bus pulls up and as soon as the driver starts assigning numbers 2 families of 6 jump on the bus back door. I sort of lost it. "sir, are you that stupid to see a line has formed"...he just looked at me with a black stare....."yes, you in the blue polo shirt with the red shoes, I am talking to you. Do you think you are better then us and dont have to wait in line"

He got on the bus and I stared him down and kept yelling passive aggressive remarks his direction the entire bus ride. I know it is childish...but it makes me feel better....somebody has to stand up to inconsiderate people of the world.

I know the feeling! On our last trip I lined up for family boarding at southwest an hour before the flight and the line got long fast and kept growing—it was a totally full flight and with all the families in Orlando not everyone was going to get seats together. A woman with her two kids (one a teen, the other about 11 or 12, definitely not young enough to qualify for family boarding) walks up after they announce family boarding will start soon in our location, and sneaks in right in front of me. “There’s a line” I say gesturing the probably 100 people behind me. “I didn’t know where we had to line up” she says (as if the massive queue was not an indication). “We’ve all been waiting a long time, you have to go to the back of the line” I said. “Oh if you’re going to be so bothered about it, I’ll just go behind you” she says and shoves her kids (who now look super mortified) to squeeze in behind my family but before the next family in line. I think she expected I would let it go, but I did not stop saying loudly the whole time we were boarding the plane that she was cutting the line, that it wasn’t fair to everyone else who lined up before her and she was setting an awful example for her kids, and pointedly told my kids they had better never behave like the rules don’t apply to them because it is NOT OKAY. She just tuned me out and I know she’s probably just always going to be an entitled jerk the rest of her life and it didn’t make a lick of difference what I said, but I wasn’t going to let her get away with it without getting a piece of my mind!

I think I embarrassed DH a little, but after a week watching people at Disney World break rule after rule, what can I say, I just reached my limit and snapped. Nothing makes you lose your faith in humanity like traveling and theme parks during peak crowd times!!

 

[robinb]

Super helpful review!! Thank you!

Question on to-go ordering, do you need to have already have a reservation to order to-go? In your Trattoria al Forno example, did you already have an ADR for the restaurant and just chose not to eat inside? We are staying at BWV for a few days on our trip, but have not had any luck with ADRs, so this would be a great option. There are a couple of ADRs during our stay but they're all past 9 pm, which is way too late for my family.

And thanks for the recommendation on the lanyards! I was going to make some, but these are a great price. So thanks for saving me from buying way more material than I need to make 5 of these! LOL

No, we didn't have an ADR. They do have mobile ordering, but that was already filled. I just stopped by and placed an order to go with a server. She brought it out for me when I arrived at 10:00ish. I had to wait about 5-10 minutes more for the gnocchi which was why the bruschetta was soggy. My lasagna was also a bit cold. Both sat there (probably in their containers) while we waited for the gnocchi. I could have placed the order with her and she would have brought it out right away if I wanted to.

The lanyards are also a little stretchy and very thin. I don't like things around my neck and I forgot they were on.

 

[kylenne]

Reporting on yesterday now because I was exhausted last night. It was my second full park day and the day I transferred resorts from GF to YC. I called bell services at 6am and a nice gent came right up to get my bags, he told me luggage gets delivered over to the Crescent Lake resorts between 3p and 5p.

Then I headed to the bus stop to catch the AK bus but at 6:30 saw nothing remotely in sight so I booked a Lyft and opted for priority pickup. My ride was almost instantly assigned and my car came in like 5 minutes. We arrived to the road leading to the AK toll plaza at 6:50, where we pulled up to the cones next to the only other vehicle there, and were held until 7. I was dropped off after that and made my way into Pandora at 7:10, they let me straight into the real FOP queue at 7:12. There were already a bunch of people ahead of me but we were all were held inside because they hadn’t started the ride yet. At this time I placed my mobile order for Sat’uli for an 11:50 pickup window. At 7:25 cheers went up because they started letting people onto the ride and I walked right onto it. Takeaway here for my drivers and rideshare folk: you will be perfectly fine at rope drop, Disney buses do get let in earlier than cars but with crowds this light there is no significant advantage to the buses.

After FOP I walked right onto Navi at 7:49. Got on line for the Safari at 8:04 and it was an 18 minute wait. One thing to note is our truck did not stop for pictures at the regular places like normal because they are still integrating the baby zebra into the environment, there is also some temporary fencing in places for that purpose as well. But I got tons of great pics, the animals are very active early in the am. I got a light breakfast of French toast sticks at Pongu Pongu after that, note that before it opens for lunchtime Sat’uli allows you to sit outside and eat food from the stand, which I did. Then I headed over to Asia and got a locker, and walked straight onto Kali at 9:39. Afterwards walked Maharaja trail, and I would have done Everest but the line was backed up as far as the Nemo theater and I knew the 20 minutes it posted and 15 on Lines was a whole lie lol. So I headed to Dinosaur which was a 15 minute wait around 11. Around this time I realized I had never done online check in for YC so quickly did that. Then I got on the walk up list for Nomad and stopped for a Balinese Breeze in the AC before heading to lunch.

I took the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, which I’d never actually done before! Mostly I hung out in the Affection Section petting the fuzzy babies. It was good for the heart. I got my room ready text while up there, and I was feeling wiped, so I headed back to wait for Celebration of Festival of the Lion King.

IMPORTANT: there are a very limited number of showtimes and very limited seating. Get there 60-70 minutes prior. I say this because after the 12:30 show the next show isn’t until 3. When I initially went over there, prior to the Rafiki train, the CM told me make sure I line up at 2 for the 3p show. I came back around 1:40 and there were already ppl hanging around to get into the queue, which was still closed. CMs weren’t going to open the extended queue until 2 but some rude jerks who had just strolled up took it upon themselves to get in, so CMs told us all to get in. The nice part about waiting in that area though is a ton of character barges came by. I saw Pocahontas & Meeko, the duck crew, and Timon & Rafiki as well as a live band. But they were counting heads as I went into the real queue and I was #47. I don’t know how many more got in after me but like I said...get there EARLY, they fill up fast. As for the show itself it’s definitely a Cliffs Notes “greatest hits” version, but still very enjoyable. The performers were fantastic, some of the best I’ve seen.

I stopped by Everest for my last attraction and it was a 10 minute wait by 3:40 or so. Got to YC at 4:30ish and my bags were already waiting for me. Rested and had dinner at Beaches & Cream then spent the night in as opposed to hopping to Epcot. I was just too tired, my body can’t do all day in a park.

Exhausting day but was worth it. One thing I really enjoy about no FP is actually getting to see all these standby queues I’ve never actually been through before bc I FP everything. AK has the best themed queues of any park, imo. I took so many photos it’s unreal.

 

[robinb]

Random notes.....it was weird...dont know if I was just looking or what...but I noticed many more cast members with tattoos everywhere. I guess they just really hid them before.

we did too! We saw CMs with tattoos, nail polish (on both men and women), beards, “interesting” hair and earrings. I thought it was refreshing that they could embrace their individuality. It’s about time ... and I’m not a big fan of tattoos.

Still hope fast pass + never comes back. Even on a holiday weekend...never thought the parks were "crowded" and we got to see and do what we expected.

Word. If you told me that I would wait only 25 minutes for Big Thunder Memorial Day weekend, I’d ask you what you were smoking!

And people at the resort bus stops are just rude as ever.

I’ve always found the bus lines at the resort to be dog eat dog.

 

[kylenne]

Word. If you told me that I would wait only 25 minutes for Big Thunder Memorial Day weekend, I’d ask you what you were smoking!

Thirded, and I was queen of FP refresh. Never thought I would say that! But man is it so much better.

I mean when crowds get back to normal they will probably have to do something…but this has been such a low stress trip, I’m still gobsmacked by how little time I’ve spent in lines after fretting about it so much leading up to the trip.

 

[MomOTwins]

Thirded, and I was queen of FP refresh. Never thought I would say that! But man is it so much better.

I mean when crowds get back to normal they will probably have to do something…but this has been such a low stress trip, I’m still gobsmacked by how little time I’ve spent in lines after fretting about it so much leading up to the trip.

It seems like the ride efficiency issues from seating every other row and cleaning cycles were having so much more of an impact to wait times than anyone understood. In October and March, the wait times (listed and actual) were an over an hour on pretty much every major attraction. Makes me so frustrated that they did not switch sooner--it's just common sense that it would have been much safer for us to have a short wait in line followed by a 4 minute attraction seated close to another person, than wait an hour or more in a queue next to "line creepers" with shoddy mask compliance.

 

[DSLRuser]

I will also add...The Frozen Ever After show at the studios is the best attraction in all of WDW. If you don't leave that show with a big old smile on your face.....you have something wrong with you.

 

[wilkydelts]

It seems like the ride efficiency issues from seating every other row and cleaning cycles were having so much more of an impact to wait times than anyone understood. In October and March, the wait times (listed and actual) were an over an hour on pretty much every major attraction. Makes me so frustrated that they did not switch sooner--it's just common sense that it would have been much safer for us to have a short wait in line followed by a 4 minute attraction seated close to another person, than wait an hour or more in a queue next to "line creepers" with shoddy mask compliance.

I was there in late October and Easter/Spring Break week. I never waited anything close to an hour. If FP+ is the majority cause of previous waits I hope it never comes back.

 

[kylenne]

I was there in late October and Easter/Spring Break week. I never waited anything close to an hour. If FP+ is the majority cause of previous waits I hope it never comes back.

Honestly, folks who analyze the data for a living have shown for ages that FP+ has a detrimental impact on standby waits. Anecdotally I can definitely confirm that. On this trip I’ve been in standby lines shorter than some FP lines when they would get backed up sometimes! I hope they can balance it out when they introduce whatever replacement system they’ll have.

 

[ellbell]

I was there in late October and Easter/Spring Break week. I never waited anything close to an hour. If FP+ is the majority cause of previous waits I hope it never comes back.

I was there in early October and waited over an hour in multiple lines. Mostly because cleaning cycles.

 

[PrincessJL16]

Sorry if this is the wrong thread to post in (if so, please move or delete).
Has anyone who has been to WDW lately know if they still sell the Disney Cooling Towels in gift shops? I found some info on the Disney parks planning site but was from 2019 so curious if it’s still available.

 

[PanchoX1]

I don't know about Disney cooling towels on site, but you can order a 6 pack of the highly rated Frog Togg towels from amazon for like 13 bucks.

 

[G719]

Sorry if this is the wrong thread to post in (if so, please move or delete).
Has anyone who has been to WDW lately know if they still sell the Disney Cooling Towels in gift shops? I found some info on the Disney parks planning site but was from 2019 so curious if it’s still available.

I saw them at the AoA gift shop on Sunday.

 

[wonderchica]

Sorry if this is the wrong thread to post in (if so, please move or delete).
Has anyone who has been to WDW lately know if they still sell the Disney Cooling Towels in gift shops? I found some info on the Disney parks planning site but was from 2019 so curious if it’s still available.

I saw these everywhere last week. Stores, carts outside... everywhere.

 

[Akck]

Sorry if this is the wrong thread to post in (if so, please move or delete).
Has anyone who has been to WDW lately know if they still sell the Disney Cooling Towels in gift shops? I found some info on the Disney parks planning site but was from 2019 so curious if it’s still available.

We saw them in at least one shop at each park and at DS.