Here Now & Just Back WDW Reopening Experiences Including Park Hopping

[JLS]

Staying at Jambo in a few weeks- wondering how it is there currently. Mostly busses, food and pool. Any advice?

Hi - hope you have a great stay. It felt pretty empty, particularly the lobby. Self parking was fantastic because very few cars in that lot. The CMs working at Jambo are super friendly and helpful. Mara is open every day until 10 pm. We filled water bottles there every morning on the way out to parks and we did mobile orders for breakfast and many dinners. Very few people in there. Limited but decent selection of items. You can buy refillable mug and use the filling station there. Pool is open at 10 am. Shuttle service to/from Kidsni was open and very easy. Loved going to the Kidani pool. It is super crowded over at Kidani compared to Jambo house. We didn’t take Disney busses except home from MK one time, so can’t really comment on that.

 

[preemiemama]

Hi - hope you have a great stay. It felt pretty empty, particularly the lobby. Self parking was fantastic because very few cars in that lot. The CMs working at Jambo are super friendly and helpful. Mara is open every day until 10 pm. We filled water bottles there every morning on the way out to parks and we did mobile orders for breakfast and many dinners. Very few people in there. Limited but decent selection of items. You can buy refillable mug and use the filling station there. Pool is open at 10 am. Shuttle service to/from Kidsni was open and very easy. Loved going to the Kidani pool. It is super crowded over at Kidani compared to Jambo house. We didn’t take Disney busses except home from MK one time, so can’t really comment on that.

That is great to know! We're contemplating the mugs because we used them a lot when we got them with the dining plan. I'm not sure I'll mind it being quiet, but hate that not everything will be open. At least with Mara open and the pool we should be OK. Thanks for the insight!

 

[nemolover22]

I would recommend in the morning going to the bus stop really early (before 90 mins) and waiting, even before they post the bus times on the app. We had a bus buzz by us twice before they were supposed to have arrived at the station. Not sure if they were just full or if it was because no one was at the station waiting but it was pretty frustrating. So just get there and wait would be my suggestion.

If a park is your high priority and it’s not hugely inconvenient, I’d walk to Paddock or even try to make it up to Grandstand to get on the bus. We were in Paddock but closer to CP so we used that station, and sometimes the busses would be full before making our stop. We also found the mid day busses to be the worst and almost missed a dinner ADR. Morning and end of day they are running pretty consistently, but when you hit the afternoon it’s a total crapshoot.

I saw in another thread a suggestion to take a Disney Springs bus to a resort within walking distance when in desperation. We had a car so never had to do that, but may be helpful for you. Have fun!!

Thank you so much for the tips! We are doing a split stay so the only parks we have reservations for when we are staying at SSR is Epcot & DAK. We will see if we either get to the bus really early or walk to a different bus stop. I wish in the mornings when its super busy that they send a bus to each different stop first so everyone has a chance to get on a bus rather than it to keep going to stop #1 over & over!

 

[emmabelle]

Got back on Saturday and we had fun but really didn't spend much time in the parks. We went to Disney last September, and then February and this was by far the busiest. We miss FP, my husband doesn't like waiting in lines and the old get to the park at rope drop doesn't seem to work well anymore. I couldn't believe how large the crowds were at HS when we got to the turnstiles at 8:10am for a 9:00am opening. We rode RNRC, TOT and TSM because the amount of crowds heading to SDD at opening just seemed way too overwhelming. I did manage to get BG 36 for Rise so after that we bailed. I'm glad that we really didn't need to ride everything because we go so often. We only went to MK one night and basically did COP, HM, Buzz and the People Mover. It was so hot and all the other lines were really long. I can't believe we were in Disney a week and never rode Space, SM, Pirates, 7D, Frozen or SDD.

We did have fun going out to breakfast every morning and sit down dinners at night which we never really do. My husband loved Topolino's, I thought it was okay. I didn't like the food at Hollywood and Vine at all. The tenderloin was weird, my husband basically ate both our meals. I enjoyed Chefs de France and Liberty Tree Tavern, also T Rex was super cute.

All and all it wasn't our typical Disney vacay but it was more relaxing with a lot of pool time.

 

[robinb]

Re: scooters loading on buses:

What I observed is this...

When a bus pulled up, if someone was on a scooter and they were near the front of the line, the bus loader/monitor person would count the # of people in front of them and then have the person on the scooter get out of line and sit to the side. The scooter would be loaded first, then able bodied passengers afterwards.

So essentially the person on the scooter had to wait in the queue with everybody else the whole entire time. There was not a separate scooter/wheelchair line.

What did NOT occur is a CM scanning the big long line of guests and pulling out all of the scooters and having the scooter rider and his/her group cut to the front of the big long queue.

My apologies if what I said earlier was confusing!

I used a scooter on my last trip and it was confusing for me. Sometimes I was told to get in line and sometimes I was told to go in the scooter lane. I missed a bus at the MK because I was IN LINE and then the bus came and I backed out and went into the scooter lane. Meanwhile, more people loaded up in the line behind where I was in line. The bus driver loaded THEM because he saw me scoot up along the edge and I should have been loaded instead. It wasn't a big deal. It wasn't a long wait, but I asked one of the other drivers what I should do.

 

[DisneyFive]

Got back on Saturday and we had fun but really didn't spend much time in the parks. We went to Disney last September, and then February and this was by far the busiest. We miss FP, my husband doesn't like waiting in lines and the old get to the park at rope drop doesn't seem to work well anymore. I couldn't believe how large the crowds were at HS when we got to the turnstiles at 8:10am for a 9:00am opening. We rode RNRC, TOT and TSM because the amount of crowds heading to SDD at opening just seemed way too overwhelming. I did manage to get BG 36 for Rise so after that we bailed. I'm glad that we really didn't need to ride everything because we go so often. We only went to MK one night and basically did COP, HM, Buzz and the People Mover. It was so hot and all the other lines were really long. I can't believe we were in Disney a week and never rode Space, SM, Pirates, 7D, Frozen or SDD.

We did have fun going out to breakfast every morning and sit down dinners at night which we never really do. My husband loved Topolino's, I thought it was okay. I didn't like the food at Hollywood and Vine at all. The tenderloin was weird, my husband basically ate both our meals. I enjoyed Chefs de France and Liberty Tree Tavern, also T Rex was super cute.

All and all it wasn't our typical Disney vacay but it was more relaxing with a lot of pool time.

Just looked at MDE. Lines are getting unacceptable.
11:40 AM on a Monday
MK: Splash 60 min, BTMRR 55 min, 7DMT 45, Space 35 min, Astro 45 min
HS: SDD 80 min, MFSR 50 min, RnRC 50 min
AK: FOP 70 min, Safari 50
EP: TT 105 min, Soarin 70 min, Spaceship Earth 45 min

Dan

 

[wilkydelts]

Just looked at MDE. Lines are getting unacceptable.
11:40 AM on a Monday
MK: Splash 60 min, BTMRR 55 min, 7DMT 45, Space 35 min, Astro 45 min
HS: SDD 80 min, MFSR 50 min, RnRC 50 min
AK: FOP 70 min, Safari 50
EP: TT 105 min, Soarin 70 min, Spaceship Earth 45 min

Dan

It has been stated regularly that MDE times are not accurate reflections of true waits.

If they are "true" they are not that bad in reality. It is like people forget with FP+ FOP used to be almost 3 hours.
EPCOT is super high because the park would have only been officially open for 40 minutes which is the highest windows.

 

[GAN]

Just looked at MDE. Lines are getting unacceptable.
11:40 AM on a Monday
MK: Splash 60 min, BTMRR 55 min, 7DMT 45, Space 35 min, Astro 45 min
HS: SDD 80 min, MFSR 50 min, RnRC 50 min
AK: FOP 70 min, Safari 50
EP: TT 105 min, Soarin 70 min, Spaceship Earth 45 min

Dan

I would only trust the Lines app ...MDE is almost never accurate, just a tool to redirect guests

 

[dmband]

-
Rise of the Resistance- walk-on

was there no boarding groups or you mean they were loading smooth a d there was no wait??

FYI there is a brand new Cruella themed magic shot in the UK pavilion, back in the garden area where the band used to play. The CM told me they just started it yesterday.

nice

Thank goodness drinking and walking is ok again! Stay safe everyone!

100%

I think the chances of some sort of fireworks show at Epcot for Independence Day are looking up-judging by the Crowds at the "return" of Epcot Rope Drop today,I don't think Disney is "worried" about Fireworks "crowding" anymore!lol

View attachment 580690

best place if you want to keep people spread out

Hmm…what I observed at parks was scooters just pulled off to the side of the queue, they did not get IN the line, ever. When the bus pulled up they loaded scooters and family first. Again they were not in line, they were off to the side where I think there was a wheelchair icon telling them where to wait. Maybe this was only for SSR bus stops?? Not sure.
AT SSR at the five little resort stops the scooters went front and center in the middle of the covered stop and they got loaded first regardless of when they got to the stop.
Your observations vs my observations just again proves Disney’s inconsistency here, lol.

my experience too

can anyone confirm arcades are open at the resorts??
Some threads in the resort section said they are

 

[scrappinginontario]

Just looked at MDE. Lines are getting unacceptable.
11:40 AM on a Monday
MK: Splash 60 min, BTMRR 55 min, 7DMT 45, Space 35 min, Astro 45 min
HS: SDD 80 min, MFSR 50 min, RnRC 50 min
AK: FOP 70 min, Safari 50
EP: TT 105 min, Soarin 70 min, Spaceship Earth 45 min

Dan

I just looked at my lines app approx 30 mins after you posted and across the board each of these wait times is 10-30 mins more than the lines app.

Also, considering what some attractions were like pre-Covid, I think even the posted 70 mins isn't bad for mid-day.

I really don't see the numbers above as too bad, even if they were as posted and according to the lines app these are higher than actual waits.

Reality is the parks are busier now so each person must decide if now is a good time for them to travel or wait until more attractions are open. More and more people are able to travel which means many places (Disney being just one of them) has the potential to be busier than they have been in the past.

 

[DisneyFive]

Lines has:
TT at 75 minutes, Soarin at 56 minutes.
FOP is 56 minutes
SDD 61 min, MFSR 42 min, MMRR 39 minutes, RnRC 31 min, TSM 35 min

Without any other option than standby, now we're forced to wait in these long lines when we could breeze through them in 20 minutes tops before. Bummer

I guess that's o.k.? Not for me.

 

[MomOTwins]

Just looked at MDE. Lines are getting unacceptable.
11:40 AM on a Monday
MK: Splash 60 min, BTMRR 55 min, 7DMT 45, Space 35 min, Astro 45 min
HS: SDD 80 min, MFSR 50 min, RnRC 50 min
AK: FOP 70 min, Safari 50
EP: TT 105 min, Soarin 70 min, Spaceship Earth 45 min

Dan

These are all less than the posted (and actual) waits we experienced in March. People in May were reporting 10-20 minute lines, but remember May is the last month of school and so rarely sees long waits. Schools are out now in some but not all parts of the country. In other words, we are just seeing the waits start to creep up to "schools outs" waits from Spring Break. July will be much worse.

 

[Kelly014]

I just looked at my lines app approx 30 mins after you posted and across the board each of these wait times is 10-30 mins more than the lines app.

Also, considering what some attractions were like pre-Covid, I think even the posted 70 mins isn't bad for mid-day.

I really don't see the numbers above as too bad, even if they were as posted and according to the lines app these are higher than actual waits.

Reality is the parks are busier now so each person must decide if now is a good time for them to travel or wait until more attractions are open. More and more people are able to travel which means many places (Disney being just one of them) has the potential to be busier than they have been in the past.

Agree. Even our local pools are way more crowded than in years past. People are ready to get out and do things, Disney is not fully staffed up yet. It is just going to be "off" for a while.

 

[wilkydelts]

Without any other option than standby, now we're forced to wait in these long lines when we could breeze through them in 20 minutes tops before. Bummer

I guess that's o.k.? Not for me.

That is where you are being short sided. For every ride someone got to FP+ it drove up the wait for every ride you did not have FP+ especially secondary rides. You may wait 40-60 for headliners but you are waiting next to nothing for others. Peter Pan is the perfect example of this. It used to be a necessity to FP+ Peter Pan, now it is almost a secondary ride you can just walk onto.

 

[DisneyFive]

I just looked at my lines app approx 30 mins after you posted and across the board each of these wait times is 10-30 mins more than the lines app.

Also, considering what some attractions were like pre-Covid, I think even the posted 70 mins isn't bad for mid-day.

I really don't see the numbers above as too bad, even if they were as posted and according to the lines app these are higher than actual waits.

Reality is the parks are busier now so each person must decide if now is a good time for them to travel or wait until more attractions are open. More and more people are able to travel which means many places (Disney being just one of them) has the potential to be busier than they have been in the past.

No doubt people are ready to be out and there is pent up demand. However, you can't argue that no matter how busy the parks got before, we had an options to ride headliners with low waits, and also sleep in if needed. We've gone in high demand summer seasons before. You just needed to plan accordingly.

I hope they reinstate "the system that shall not be named" before we arrive late July.

Dan

 

[DisneyFive]

That is where you are being short sided. For every ride someone got to FP+ it drove up the wait for every ride you did not have FP+ especially secondary rides. You may wait 40-60 for headliners but you are waiting next to nothing for others. Peter Pan is the perfect example of this. It used to be a necessity to FP+ Peter Pan, now it is almost a secondary ride you can just walk onto.

That is true, the secondary attractions had boosted wait times when the other system was in place. No doubt about it.

A little story about that though... our second year at WDW we decided to do all the rides we hadn't done the year before. They happened to be secondary rides because we had focused on the headliners the year before. After the third day of primarily riding secondary attractions, we just weren't having much fun. We realized that the headliners were what we needed to focus on, and once we did, the excitement and fun came right back. Secondary attractions are just that, secondary. I want to ride headliners with low waits and that option is disappearing it seems and I'm concerned for our visit late next month.

We will maximize whatever we're dealt when it comes to our options

Dan

 

[MomOTwins]

That is where you are being short sided. For every ride someone got to FP+ it drove up the wait for every ride you did not have FP+ especially secondary rides. You may wait 40-60 for headliners but you are waiting next to nothing for others. Peter Pan is the perfect example of this. It used to be a necessity to FP+ Peter Pan, now it is almost a secondary ride you can just walk onto.

Unless you used fastpasses for secondary rides too, booking new FPs each time you tapped in after your first three. Then everything in the park was walk on. The people who miss FP are the ones who knew how to use it efficiently and NEVER waited more than 10 mins for a ride.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I guess I'm in the minority here in that although I'm a FP fan, i will say I found it challenging finding additional FPs for headliner rides many times and I was only looking for 2 guests. I'd sometimes split us up and book 1 and 1 but still, it was a lot of work to rarely get a headliner FP more than once or twice a day. Many of the last minute FPs we got were for secondary rides and sometimes not even needed.

Personally, I'd like to try a trip without FP just to see the difference and then decide after that...but that's just me.

 

[monica9]

was there no boarding groups or you mean they were loading smooth a d there was no wait??
nice
100%
best place if you want to keep people spread out
my experience too

can anyone confirm arcades are open at the resorts??
Some threads in the resort section said they are

Yes. I just read that pop and all stars are open so If assume others are or about to be.

 

[SiandAm]

Just looked at MDE. Lines are getting unacceptable.
11:40 AM on a Monday
MK: Splash 60 min, BTMRR 55 min, 7DMT 45, Space 35 min, Astro 45 min
HS: SDD 80 min, MFSR 50 min, RnRC 50 min
AK: FOP 70 min, Safari 50
EP: TT 105 min, Soarin 70 min, Spaceship Earth 45 min

Dan

Here in Hollywood Studios today and can confirm.